To Claim and Reclaim
by Randomboulder
Summary: Postgame. Sophia and Fayt are back on Earth, but not together. The friendship they once had has faded or turned into something they can't deal with. A new journey could bring them together or drive them further apart. Fayphia
1. A World Away

Title: To Claim and Reclaim

A/N: I've ignored the FaytxSophia ending because I thought it sucked. Too impersonal! Now I'm just testing things out and seeing whether a Fayphia is good. I apologise for any OOC-ness. This is post-game. It's over a year post-game, so the characters have changed/developed just a bit.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Ocean Till the End of Time.

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**A World Away**

"Meteor swarm," Sophia whispered, voice hoarse. Her enemies were decimated. They seemed to be melting, odd popping and sucking noises filling the area until the pelting rain cooled them off.

She flinched. The new battle simulators were cruelly accurate. She could remember her first time inside a battle simulator, perhaps two years ago, when she and Fayt had fought enemies that left no doubt of being automated programs inside a plain simulator room. The improvement in technology was amazing. The simulator had fashioned the environment surrounding her, a grassy landscape with an abrupt drop into the sea. It had produced rain to soak through Sophia's in-game clothing. It had even bothered to recreate the smell of damp grass.

Her sigh was drowned out by the downpour. This virtual reality fitted her mood perfectly – she had installed it thus, after all – but she couldn't stay in it for a prolonged length of time. Not only would it reset and would she have to fight all the monsters again, drained as she was, she'd also have a long line of pissed gamers waiting for their turn outside the simulator and ready to stop the game forcefully.

She checked the time she had left: three minutes. Muddy ground wasn't the ideal place to lie down, but the knowledge that her soaked and smeared battle uniform would instantly be reverted back to her normal clothing when she returned to reality made it hard to resist. She collapsed onto the ground, curling up into a ball and closing her eyes.

It had been a year since the fight with Luther and still she found herself training. There was no reason to become stronger or to practice powerful spells that left her so exhausted.

Escapism was a state of mind.

So much had changed. Albel, Nel, Adray and Roger had settled back into life on Elicoor II, the former three doing what they could to uphold the fragile peace it was enjoying. Mirage, Cliff and Maria were busy with Quark. There had been some affair to be solved with Mirage's father when they had returned, but they seemed to be doing all right. Peppita had continued her circus tour as if nothing had happened.

This left Sophia and Fayt on earth. She smiled at the irony: the only person she wanted with her and the only person she couldn't bring herself to face.

_That's not true_, she chided herself gently. _You could face him if he was silent. If he gazed at you in that guileless way he used to, and you could block your thoughts out for a while._

He would wrap his arms around her, and she would lean forward just a little, place her hand on his heart to feel its rapid beat…

She snorted. And then Albel would come out of the sky in pink, throwing daisies into the air and proclaiming that he loved _everyone_. Perhaps the virtual reality was addling her brain.

Her permitted ten minutes inside of it were almost over, anyway. She got off the ground and held up her 'watch' – a controller for the battle simulator that showed elapsed time and held buttons to reset, edit or shut it down with. With a sigh, she pressed the third and forced her tired legs towards the exit of the simulator room.

Now, the rooms were _not _ideally situated. They stood on raised platforms, three steps above the floor of the queuing area. She stepped out of the simulator. Sophia's eyes took in the black lights along the ceiling and the small dots of light spelling out patterns on the floor in some attempt to make the room look even more technologically advanced. In her case, it just flooded her eyes and made her dizzy. The dizziness tangled with bone-deep weariness.

Her balance was lost. The boy next in line looked hapless, not moving a muscle and not capable of using reflexes outside his precious battle simulator, no doubt. It was an entirely different matter for the boy behind _him_.

"Sophia!" Fayt called, pushing the other boy aside just in time to catch her in his arms. She lay stunned, confused by her own collapse. A shock of blue hair and guileless green eyes were the last thing she saw before fatigue rushed to snuff out the last form of wakefulness the girl retained.

Fayt held her wonderingly as the boy previously in front of him cleared his throat and stepped into the battle simulator, giving the two as wide a berth as he could manage. None of this was noted.

Instead, Fayt noted how the girl he held had changed. Her hair was longer, framing a face so pale it nearly turned luminescent under the black light. She'd lost weight, turning her slight frame even slighter. Her lips were pink and full as ever.

In a room filled with rather scrawny teenagers and the odd adult, she could have been a figure of unearthly beauty.

The description didn't suit her at all. Unearthly could hardly be said of his childhood friend.

_Unattainable beauty, then, _Fayt corrected himself, a little sad.

"You gonna stay there and wait for a method to see through clothes to be developed or are you gonna go get help?" a guy asked. Fayt looked up. The guy was probably in his early twenties, standing in a queue with an arrogant smirk on his features. Belatedly Fayt realised he was referring to the way Fayt had been staring at his friend.

He stood up, Sophia limp in his arms. "No, I'm going to drag her into an alley and molest her." If the guy was too dumb to pick up on the sarcasm dripping from Fayt's words, that wasn't Fayt's problem. "She's a friend."

"Didn't look much like friendship to me," the guy said, arrogant smirk still in place.

Fayt refused to knock it off his face for him, thinking he might get Sophia hurt if he started a fight with her in his arms. "I haven't seen her for a long time," he said softly, more to himself than anything else. It felt like he was trying to deny his feelings by explaining why he stared so to a stranger. A random, arrogant stranger.

Fayt took off, away from the room with all the battle simulators and back to the rest of the arcade. It was pretty surprising that Sophia would come to this arcade, of all the ones out there. This one was inhabited mostly by rude teenage boys. The few girls there were looked like the kind that started smoking when they were five. Sophia wouldn't be the kind of girl to hang out with these people willingly, would she?

Fayt felt a clenching feeling in his gut. He didn't know, because Sophia had done such a good job of completely cutting off ties with him. Not with words, but with actions. She'd started distancing herself from him when they came back to Earth. She never sought his company anymore. When he sought hers she remained silent most of the time except for when he could charm a tiny smile from her, a tiny laugh. Eventually he couldn't deny what was right in front of his eyes: she didn't want him with her anymore. He stopped coming over to visit and they stopped seeing each other altogether.

He didn't understand why she did it. Fayt could guess she was having trouble dealing with the fact that her genes had been messed with. That made sense, after all; who'd want a constant reminder of an unpleasant fact at their side when they were trying to deny that same reality?

At first it felt like a betrayal. The busy life at university had made the hurt subside, had allowed Fayt to forget, until his roommate adopted a previously abandoned cat. It wouldn't have been a big deal if Fayt hadn't gotten intoxicated enough to make the cat seem like a semblance of Sophia as she used to be. Warm and trusting. It was something only a drunk guy could think, but when he was sober the memories the event triggered stayed in place. Memories of a lifetime before the Creator, before Hyda IV was attacked.

He'd gone to her house only to find she'd moved out. Her parents gave him the address, but she wasn't there. He made one last attempt to find her by going to the nearest mall. When he couldn't find her anywhere he went to the arcade's battle simulator room just in time to see her enter one.

It didn't take a genius to see she had worn herself out in there. Fayt wondered how many rounds she'd gone before the tiredness caught up with her.

In a way he was thankful. Would she have gone with him if she was conscious? It would've been awkward.

Well, it was slightly awkward how passers-by stared at him and the unconscious girl in his arms. Did they think he was kidnapping her? In a way, they were right. He exited the mall and carefully lowered her into his pod – a small version of the old-fashioned 'flying car' – and stepped in next to her.

Instead of taking her to his flat he drove to her new home, hoping she had the keys in her pocket. It was a pretty small house compared to the Esteed's or Leingod's residences, but Fayt himself had given up his old home for a small room near his university too. It wasn't necessary: he could afford to teleport himself to school every day if he wanted. Sophia had probably wanted the same distance from her parents he had by moving out.

He parked in front of her house and recovered her, carrying her over to the front door. Feeling slightly perverted as he did so, he fished the key out of her jean pocket. It wasn't his fault she wore such tight-fitting jeans.

A little sigh escaped her lips. Fayt was hard-put not to answer it with one of his own. Did she have to be so beautiful? Did she have to be so warm in his arms? It made it terribly hard to convince himself all he felt for her was friendship.

The hallway was in a state of impeccable tidiness. Two pairs of shoes stood neatly under the coat rack. He added another two, tugging Sophia's off as gently as possible. It was amazing she still hadn't woken up. He closed the front door behind him and proceeded into what looked like the living room.

It had Sophia's cutesy touch to it. The walls were a creamy orange colour and the thick carpet was a light shade of pink. A few fluffy toys lay on the purple furniture. To add to the whole Sophia impression was the fact that half the room was tiled and filled with kitchen appliances. Who would mix 'kitchen' and 'lounge' like that but a girl who loved cooking?

Fayt laid her down on the soft purple couch reluctantly. He knew full well that it might be the last time he could hold her unless she had another fainting spree.

He could remember a time when she would inch closer if he put his arm around her, instead of away. It had caused him grief, that inching away. Was it his destruction gene she moved away from? Did it disgust her? Did he disgust her?

_Quit brooding,_ he told himself, walking over to the fridge. _She's still your_ _friend, whatever you've become to her._

Her fridge was huge and packed to exploding. Fayt raised an eyebrow. Was she cooking for a family of ten or just herself? If it was just her, how had she _lost _weight?

_What if she's got a boyfriend staying with her?_

An invisible fist twisted his stomach painfully. _If she's got a boyfriend, it's none of your business._

He set about making an omelette. It wouldn't be as good as any of her cooking, but he knew she'd be ravenous when she woke up. He always was after a long run in a battle simulator.

A quick glance told him she was stirring. Her hand came up to rub her cheek, a small smile on her face. It was no wonder a cat had made him think of her in his intoxicated state. He wondered what she had been dreaming.

Sophia could feel the familiar softness of the couch under her as she woke up. She felt a little disorientated when she realised she was at home. Her prowess in the battle simulator still stood clear in her memory, as did stepping out of it. Though she'd only been half-conscious at the time, she could also remember Fayt's face after he caught her.

A rich smell filled her nostrils. Omelette. Her stomach answered with a low growl. She sat up a tad too fast, causing her head to reel.

There was someone in the kitchen. Recent events told her it wouldn't be her freeloader friend Eliza. She blinked once, just in case it was a hallucination.

No: it was definitely Fayt. He was humming under his breath while he flipped the omelette onto a plate, looking right at home in her kitchen. His blue hair was a little longer than it had been before, falling handsomely into his eyes. It looked like he'd gained more muscle while he was away.

She hadn't seen him for almost a year. Her heart lurched to see him again despite all her attempts to distance herself. A rather contrary feeling came upon her: as if butterflies were fluttering around a cold lump in her stomach.

"Fayt," she said, almost to herself. He looked up, spatula still waving merrily. His hand stilled.

A hesitant smile came to his lips. "Sleep well, princess?"

Sophia blushed. "What – " she coughed to clear her throat " – what happened?"

"Well, I was standing in the queue for the battle simulator when all of a sudden Xena steps out and faints in my arms. Warrior princesses should know their limits," he said with a wave of the spatula at her.

"I still don't use a sword," she told him while he busied himself with getting something from the fridge.

"You should try it some time; it's a good way to get rid of frustration. Juice?"

"Yes please. You still play that much then?"

He raised an eyebrow at her as he poured juice into two glasses. "I share a simulator with my roommate, so we can play any time we want. Somehow I think I'm not the one playing 'that much'."

She looked down. So he had noticed the change in her physique. "Sorry."

Fayt handed her the plate to her small 'thanks' and put the two drinks on the glass table. She looked up in time to see him sit down and look away, eyes downcast. "For what? Leaving me behind? Or playing games?"

Sophia's heart ached. Leaving _him_ behind? It wasn't that. It couldn't be. He had simply gotten too far ahead to catch up with. She'd stopped trying. In fact, she'd moved back to put an end to the whole cliché. She busied herself with eating the omelette, not wanting to reply.

After a short silence Fayt said, "I missed you."

'I missed you too' was on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't bring herself to say it. She'd missed him something terrible, but she hadn't wanted to see him again like this. He could've at least waited for her feelings to go away. "So, um, how did you know where I live?"

He shrugged. "Asked your parents. By the way, you really should watch out if you're going at the games like that again. Anyone could kidnap you when you're in a dead faint."

It wasn't necessary for him to elaborate. Sophia blushed brightly. "How's school going?" she asked softly, uncomfortable.

"It was pretty hectic. I had a report I had to write about where inscribing symbols worked the best. Researching it was a pain. It was OK after that. Bachtein University isn't the same without you though."

"It's better this way. My year was behind me: I got so much practice when we were on our journey. Professor Hanson says I might be able to skip two years if I keep things up."

"Could you come back to the university?"

"I-I don't know. Besides, it's almost over anyway."

"It _is_ over. Mum was trying to get me to go visit my grandparents, but…"

"But?"

"Don't you miss the excitement? Doesn't life on earth seem… futile compared to a life where you're always struggling and getting stronger for a reason?"

Sophia scrunched up her face. "The daily showers make up for it. Besides, before you know it they'll have battle simulators that teleport real monsters for fights so there's a reason." She was forgetting to be quiet and cold as she'd vowed to be.

"Ah, the quick advance was just because Glacier and Easy Arts joined. Glacier made the battle simulators and Easy Arts was already pretty far into making virtual realities for that weird 'Idol' game. There won't be that much progress now."

Once Fayt started talking about games, he usually lost all interest in any other subject. "Idol game?"

"Yeah. It was a girl's game: you choose a scenario, a date with someone or a pop concert in which you're performing, for example, and the computer creates it for you. It could even recreate real people."

Sophia blinked. "That sounds familiar. 'Eternal Sphere' springs to mind."

Fayt smiled. "It's almost like we're going to end up making an Eternal Sphere within the Eternal Sphere, yeah. But it doesn't have to be a bad thing."

"No," she agreed. "I'm not sorry that we exist."

_We_, she had said, not _I_. Sophia could see he registered that fact too. Had he thought she'd stopped liking him when she stopped coming over? She stopped coming because she liked him too much. And she was afraid he didn't like her enough. That she was a burden to him to always worry about, a block around his leg.

"Clever of you to change the topic to games," Fayt said ruefully, belatedly realising she'd put off the more important matter. "Anyway, what I _wanted _to ask you was whether you'd go with me."

Sophia lowered her eyes. _I'd go with you anywhere, if you gave me the right invitation. You're not my big brother. You're more._ She'd tried to wait her feelings out, tried to put them off. The fluttery feeling at seeing him again told her loud and clear that her attempts had failed.

"Where to?"

Fayt's interest perked up. It seemed he'd been expecting a flat-out refusal. "You know that planet I crash-landed on when Hyda IV was attacked? Vanguard III? I asked Cliff to check it out for me a while ago, just out of curiosity. There were a boy and a girl there who helped me. Well, I heard their area was in a bunch of trouble, so I wanted to go out and help, whatever the UP3 says."

That appealed to the part of her that couldn't ever leave a person in need. "What do you need me for though?"

She gazed at him. He looked sad for a moment, and she wondered what he was thinking of. "We're a team, right? I wasn't lying when I said I missed you."

Her determination to stay away from him shattered. "All you had to do was ask."


	2. Needle and Thread

Title: To Claim and Reclaim

A/N: Wha, thanks for the reviews! They made me very happy. Now I've been to Bonaire and Scotland in the meantime, so yeah it's taken a while to update! (I'm not very fast anyway; I reread and edit twice and that takes time and the inclination.) I apologise for OOC-ness. I try to keep characters true to the game, but it plays out in a different way. Also a small note: I'm using British spelling. ((End of rambles.))

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Ocean 3. If I did, I would've made the endings all squishy.

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Needle and Thread**

A breeze sifted in through the window, floating in to make the note on the refrigerator flap gently. It was a small piece of paper torn from an old envelope. It was a rather pitiful gesture of goodbye altogether.

"_Dear Eliza," _it read, rather formal for a note from one friend to another. Eliza had been freeloading at Sophia's apartment for almost as long as Sophia had been living there. _"I'm off on another journey with Fayt. If you come back before I do, that's where I am. Can't be too specific. Remember what you said about running? I was too. Hope things work out for you. Love, Sophia."_

Sophia was rather glad Fayt hadn't read the note. He had been strangely thorough in granting her privacy for this. As she stood by the kitchen counter appreciating the wind's work on the note, he spoke up from behind her.

"We don't have to go immediately, you know. We could – "

He stopped when he saw her shake her head. Sophia completed it with a sigh. He was sinking back into his apprehensive-mode with her. "You said we're a team. I'm not going to hold you back. Besides, aren't your friends in danger?"

She walked past him, small case of necessities in hand. Her back was turned so she couldn't see the look of surprise this initiated, followed by a grin that spread over his face slowly. Sophia had changed, true – but she had turned all the previous haughtiness and occasional indignation she liked showing into determination. This was hardly the girl that had scolded Fayt for playing too many games, yet she was exactly that girl at the same time.

A part of him regretted the change that made her so independent, so free of him - but he knew it was better for her. Cliff hadn't been very precise about the situation on Vanguard III; it could very well be dangerous. The Klausian thought it more important to show his unending shock at Fayt's complete disregard of the UP3, only saying about the Vanguard situation that 'he'd be able to handle it'.

Well, with the two of them it would have to be a piece of cake, if Cliff was to be trusted.

Fayt shivered and followed Sophia out of the house. He still hadn't figured out whether trusting Cliff meant a healthy belief in another's intuition or pure recklessness. He was busy pondering it when Sophia stopped and turned, ready to lock the door. They collided with a light 'oomph' on his part and a complete loss of balance on hers.

He caught her easily, both of them falling into a pose of improvised tango. Fayt was hard put not to laugh as he set her back on her feet, taking just a bit longer than was necessary to do so. "Sorry about that."

Sophia, in her turn, was trying not to blush the bright red she could feel flooding into her cheeks. She stepped past Fayt to close and lock the door, letting her hair fall in front of her face as she asked, "What were you thinking about?"

"Cliff. He says I've changed."

_He says I've had a brain transplant with a bowl of jelly, but you don't have to know that, _Fayt thought, smiling wryly.

"You have."

Fayt cocked his head. "When? Cliff hasn't known me for as long as you have."

She thought for a moment. "Well, you're not the kind of boy that would _completely _forget a promise because of a game anymore." It was strange they'd both remembered that incident on Hyda IV in the face of what came after.

"And you're not the kind of girl that'd scold me for it anymore."

_She'd probably be thankful_, a stray voice said in his mind, unbidden. He ignored it. "It seems really stupid now, doesn't it?" he asked.

"A lot of things seem stupid now," Sophia replied, turning so he could see her wrinkle her nose. "I wouldn't care for a medal nowadays. But at the time getting strong and keeping a smile on my face were priorities."

"It helped," Fayt said, nodding. Sophia's smile always reassured him. "Though it did make me believe that once it was over you could be genuinely happy. Of course, maybe you are. No one knows because you isolated yourself. I still don't get why you stopped talking to everyone."

He didn't mean everyone, seen as he was the only one she could've kept close contact with, but 'everyone' sounded less childish than a simple 'me'. When Sophia shook her head as an answer, he didn't bother asking further.

"I did see Peppita now and again, whenever the circus came to Earth. She's very good. I already knew she was good from when she danced in battles, but it helps that you can concentrate on her instead of survival when she's performing."

Fayt was about to ask her if she'd talked to any of the others when incessant beeping noises started pouring from his back pocket. Sophia jumped while he reached for his communicator. It was the same one he'd had with him two years ago. It had once belonged to Norton, despite which he couldn't seem to part with it for a newer model. He was pretty sure that if Sophia was anything like she used to be, she'd have one of the newest models in a shocking shade of pink.

His communicator flipped open at the touch of a button and he put it to his ear. "Cliff?"

"Almost," an android-like voice replied. After a prolonged time away from Mirage, her voice reminded him that she spent too much time around computers and following orders. Fayt was just starting to wonder why Cliff had made her call instead of doing it himself when she continued. "He told me to tell you he's in a conference right now."

Fayt's lips twitched. "Where is he really?"

"Singing his heart out in the shower. The Falcon doesn't have the same thick walls the Diplo had, and no one has the heart to tell him."

By now Fayt was clutching his stomach as he laughed. Sophia, who had listened in, had her knuckles in her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. Closer inspection would reveal to a casual observer that she was saying something like 'poor, poor Cliff' in a kind of chant.

Mirage waited for Fayt to compose himself, then said, "He also told me to tell you the Vanguard III problem is escalating, and there may be another Norton behind it. He wanted to investigate it personally, but I told him not to. You know how Cliff is. He'll put on an old hat, then transport down and expect no one to notice a total stranger is asking clever questions."

They both knew Cliff was, in fact, a lot more subtle than that. His appearance belied his nature. Fayt had the impression Mirage was saying this for Sophia's benefit. Cliff had tact, and a lot more of it than most suspected. The reason Mirage stopped him – well, Fayt could only guess it was because she knew what this trip meant to Fayt. Cliff wasn't the only one with tact, after all.

"When and where can you pick us up? Cliff told me it'd be evening at the earliest."

"Cliff was wrong." While Mirage's voice often seemed toneless to Fayt, he could easily detect her amusement. "Are you ready?"

"Yes, where should we – "

The familiar feeling of teleporting and the accompanied light rudely interrupted him. Fayt scowled when they appeared in the Falcon's transporter room. "That wasn't polite," he informed Mirage through his communicator.

The transporter room was rather small, barely big enough to hold the whole device. They walked out and were greeted by none other than Mirage herself. "Cliff has told us to be as discourteous as we can be when it comes to Earth. The Federation's been complaining about us – they want Quark to disband and surrender its ships – but they suck up our help readily enough when it comes to rebuilding the galaxy. They think because we're not anti-Federation anymore that we support them, but because we have been anti-Federation they deem us too dangerous to remain independent. We're showing them we're no lapdogs by way of minor breaches of the rules, including unauthorised transportation. My apologies."

Sophia and Fayt blinked simultaneously. Mirage had real talent for explaining at hyper speed.

"Is Cliff still in the shower?" Fayt asked, apology accepted wordlessly.

"Unfortunately, yes. He'll be seeing you shortly." Mirage's eyes crinkled. "Meanwhile, I can show you around the ship."

She nodded to them and started walking away. Fayt and Sophia followed, listening whenever she told them something about the ship or warned against certain shortcuts. The Falcon was quite big, though not as big as the Diplo. Mirage explained that it was often used for political meetings and had to be big for appearance's sake. It was also used for rescue missions, she said. Distress signals were, more often than not, received by the Falcon.

One thing made it stand out from any ship Fayt had ever been on: paintings and pictures hung on the walls, making the high-tech ship look more like a pleasure shuttle. When Sophia asked about it, Mirage answered, "Paintings of Klaus III and IV, to remind the crew of their home and the Federation ambassadors of Quark's origins. It was Maria's idea, though she's still on the Diplo."

"A nationalist born on the wrong planet," Fayt commented, eyes crinkling. Maria would make a great Klausian.

Sophia cringed inwardly at Fayt's fondness of the girl. She had, in truth, wondered whether the two had something going on. Their separation left her none the wiser when it came to the answer. But if Fayt _was _going out with Maria, why'd he ask Sophia to come along on this?

She cut this trail of thought off before it got somewhere it had no right to be. Maria was a great girl. Besides, hadn't Sophia sworn herself to a lifetime of selflessness, sacrificing her own happiness for the sake of others'? Hadn't she sworn off trying to snag Fayt after that unsuccessful try on Hyda IV?_ It wasn't a disaster even if it ended in one_, the rational, rather perky part of her insisted. She ignored it.

The corners of Mirage's eyes crinkled. "She's as Klausian as she has to be. Now, do you want to put that stuff in your room, Sophia?"

Sophia started nodding, but stopped before completing the motion. Instead she turned to Fayt. "Didn't you bring anything?" she asked, brows drawn together in a frown. How had she not noticed? She had her small case of necessities, but Fayt had nothing but the clothes on his back.

Fayt shrugged. "Got some stuff here already, and I'll use the replicator for clothes."

Sophia's eyes widened. Using replicator-made clothes had a bad reputation. Some replicators were able enough to create lasting items, but the cheaper kinds couldn't design lasting products. Another problem was that produced items often disappeared if the machine got shut down or crashed. "But… Fayt…" her face was covered in a pinkish blush. She hated to be the one to tell him so, but it'd be worse if they were out there and his clothes, well –

She tried to stop imagining _that_ as her blush deepened to a bright red colour. Fayt put her out of her misery by shaking his head and explaining that the Falcon's replicator was almost as good as the ones the Vendeeni used. Or used to, before they were nigh-wiped out. 'Almost as good as Vendeeni' technology always meant impeccable stuff.

Mirage was having a ball suppressing her amusement: Sophia could tell by the dark corners around her mouth, trying to keep her lips from twitching. The younger girl huffed. Mirage regained her composure – not that she'd really lost it – and said, "Well, you'll be using replicator clothes too, so if the worst _does _happen – "

"_Mirage!_"

No way in _hell _was Sophia going to let her finish _that _sentence. When had Mirage become so _cheeky_? Brunette fumed while blonde and bluenet folded over with laughter. This surprised her a bit. She'd expected Fayt to be indignant too, or at least disgusted. As it was, he was laughing almost harder than Mirage.

"That wasn't funny!" Even to her, her voice sounded childish. Sophia pouted.

"It's not – what she said – " Fayt managed to gasp out. "It's – your reaction!"

He howled a little longer while Mirage stopped laughing and went from doubled over with hilarity to serious within two seconds. "Shall I show you to your room?" she asked, cool as anything.

Sophia nodded wordlessly. "What did you mean I'd use replicator-made clothes too?" she asked as she and Fayt followed.

"Well, we're going to an underdeveloped planet. Whatever uniform you've got with you, I doubt it'll allow you to be… inconspicuous. This isn't like last time. You're going to an underdeveloped planet on purpose. You have to act like you're a local, and bright clothes people on that planet have no way to make don't fit in."

That was rather logical, Sophia was forced to admit. "Is that why Cliff wears leather all the time? Because that's pretty normal everywhere?"

Mirage snorted. "Cliff wears leather because he's Cliff."

Sophia and Fayt refrained from comment. Fair enough.

They were shown to their rooms without any mishaps or further embarrassments. Fayt excused himself, saying he needed to check something on the computer. Sophia left him to it and put her stuff in her cabin. When she was done, she found herself in a rather unfamiliar situation.

She was bored and she had nothing to do. When was the last time that had happened? Her apartment had demanded so much of her time; she'd almost forgotten what it was like to leave everything to others.

Instead of lying around and waiting for someone to call on her, she took it upon herself to explore the ship again. Mirage's tour had been thorough, but creeping around had its own kind of charm.

The clanking sound of her shoes against metal had a calming effect on Sophia. She was walking down a corridor half-hypnotised when she bumped into someone. She lost her balance for the second time that day, this time caught in arms thick with muscle.

"Easy there, Sophia," Cliff said, setting her back on her feet.

"Sorry!" Sophia said, moving a step back. "I wasn't paying attention."

"Got our blue friend on your mind?" Cliff winked.

She denied, feeling a little flustered. "I wasn't thinking about anything."

Cliff grinned. "Well, I wouldn't be surprised if he was on your mind. He's _changed_, huh? The UP3's gotta find itself a new champion, 'cause Mr Square is out of the business!"

Sophia laughed. The two of them fell into step with each other, heading for the bridge. "He told me you thought he'd changed."

"You should've seen him at first! He was the kind of guy that'd fall asleep with a list of the Federation's laws held to his chest, I swear!"

"Well, seen as my existence is forbidden under Federation law, I figured it didn't really matter whether I kept to the rest of the regulations too strictly," Fayt said, appearing around a corner.

Cliff jumped. Fayt pushed off from the wall he was leaning against with a smirk. "Trying to get dirt on me, old man?"

"Hey! Watch who you're calling an old man!" Cliff replied, shaking his fist. Fayt laughed.

Sophia watched with a small smile on her lips. They were so comfortable with each other, mock fighting and joking around. She'd noticed it on their journey too. While she found Cliff a bit intimidating, Fayt seemed to trust him. Sophia couldn't decide whether their relationship was friendly, brotherly or that of a guardian and his charge.

"Cliff?" she asked suddenly. "How old areyou?"

Cliff sighed and turned to drape an arm around her. "Too old for you Sophia, I'm afraid…"

Sophia hardly heard what Cliff had said. She'd been watching Fayt when Cliff moved to put his arm around her. Something – something he hid almost immediately – had flashed in his eyes when Cliff touched her. Oh. Sophia could feel a strange hope stir inside her. _No_, she thought, repressing it furiously. _Don't hope. Don't even think it._

Fayt tugged her away from Cliff and stepped closer to the older man, placing his hands on his hips. "No manhandling Sophia," he said with a half-smile. He glanced over his shoulder at her. "Wouldn't want you to change your mind before you're safely stuck on Vanguard with me."

"I'm not going to." She scuffed at the floor. "I keep to my promises." A resolute nod followed the statement.

"See?" Cliff did his wide-armed shrug. "Have a little faith in her! Besides, the day I start scaring little girls away is the day I – "

"Do you really want to finish that statement?" Mirage's voice sounded from further down the hallway. She walked up to join them. "Is this a private party, or may I interrupt?"

"Sure Mirage, what's up?"

"We'll be arriving at Vanguard III in approximately 10 hours." She turned to Sophia and Fayt. "I suggest you get some rest. The situation there might give you a lack of it."

They nodded in reply. The introduction to their desperate fight against the Creator two years ago had pressed the necessity of getting rest when possible into their brains. They took their leave politely and headed back to their rooms.

"It's only afternoon," Fayt remarked to Sophia. "Will you be able to sleep?"

"Well, I don't have your talent for sleeping like a log, but –" she evaded Fayt's gentle shove with a grin – "I'll manage."

In truth, Sophia had a symbological solution to everything, including insomnia. At Bachtein University, a method for the loss of a patient's conscience was known and taught so healers could perform more complex healing without resistance. It was a state known as 'Healer's Sleep'. After a bit of experimenting and gathering information, Sophia had learned how to put herself into the healer's sleep. As an acute sufferer of occasional insomnia, Sophia's life had gotten considerably easier with that knowledge.

"I can put you to sleep too, if you like," Sophia offered.

Fayt raised an eyebrow. "Is that a threat or are you offering me something else?"

She refrained from whacking his arm. "The healer's sleep, Fayt."

"Oh!" He thought for a moment. "Could you?"

"Of course. I'll wait outside while you get ready for bed."

He went into his room, calling out for her a few moments later. Sophia frowned. Had something happened?

Fayt was lying in bed, hands behind his head. He grinned at her. "Ready."

She took in the heap his jeans had fallen into lying next to the bed with an unimpressed glance. "You call that getting ready for bed? Fayt, when will you learn to look after yourself?"

"Now that you're back I won't have to."

Sophia sighed and glared good-humouredly. It _was _good to know Fayt was OK at all times. The previous year hadn't been without worries towards that end: was Fayt all right, where was he, was he looking after himself well enough without her there? She'd known it was silly, but that hadn't helped.

"Don't blame me if you wake up someday and find you're middle-aged and living off a pizza delivery service," she scolded. "Now close your eyes."

He complied. Sophia stepped forwards and put her fingertips to his forehead gently, brushing away tendrils of blue hair. Summoning her power, she whispered, "Sweet dreams, Fayt."

His eyelids relaxed. The healer's sleep was in place. Sophia leaned over him and, greatly daring, touched her lips to the spot her fingertips had caressed previously. A stolen kiss. Afterwards she exited his room and got ready for her own night's sleep.

_Funny_, she thought. _If I didn't have that spell, I have the feeling I wouldn't get any sleep at all_.

- - -

The next morning – or rather, what seemed like morning to Sophia – she woke up to a gentle tapping on the door. "Enter," she mumbled, voice thick with sleep.

"Room service," Mirage called softly. She walked into the room with a bundle of clothes in her arms. "Some freshly made clothing for you. I had to estimate your size."

Sophia nodded, still half asleep. Mirage smiled. "Will you be down for breakfast?"

Another nod. The older woman dumped her bundle on Sophia's bed and walked out, hardly making any noise. Sophia stared after her, belatedly thinking that was one of the gentlest awakenings she'd ever had. Mirage was so _quiet_.

She sighed loudly, sinking back into the mattress one last time, then got up and observed her new outfit. It consisted of a red-brown plaid skirt that would come halfway down her calves, an off white jumper and a soft leather bodice. She put these on and found sturdy brown boots and a long coat lying under them.

Just for size, she tried on the boots and the coat then waltzed up to the room's full-length mirror. The coat hugged her body closely, warm padding pressing against her. The tan brown garment covered the upper half of her thighs. It looked rather charming, Sophia was forced to admit. Had Mirage chosen a smaller size on purpose? Sophia hadn't thought Mirage was into fashion.

If Mirage _was _into fashion, Sophia hoped brown was a popular colour this year, because her outfit held an overwhelming amount of it.

Sophia took the coat off and draped it over her arm, then headed for the kitchen. It had to be winter on Vanguard III: her clothes were very warm. By the time she got to the kitchen her cheeks were red-tinged from the heat.

The kitchen was a medium-sized room consisting of table, benches, a worktop and kitchen appliances all in a metallic silver colour. When she entered, Cliff, Mirage and Fayt were already there.

"Morning," she said shyly. They looked up.

"Morning for some," Cliff commented, leaning back. "I haven't even gone to sleep."

"Thinking of retiring?" Mirage inquired sweetly. Cliff glared at her.

Meanwhile, Fayt sat with a spoon half-raised to his lips. After a few seconds, he gathered his wits. "That's not fair," he mumbled. "You didn't dress _her _like a five year-old."

Cliff turned his attention back to his blue-haired charge. "Mirage was responsible for the clothes. I bear no blame."

Sophia raised her eyebrows and inspected Fayt. She couldn't see much of what he was wearing. Her glance alighted upon a white jumper, brown open vest and –

"They made me wear suspenders," he whined, opening his vest further so she could see the offensive articles. "Can you believe they made me wear suspenders?"

Sophia sucked in her lips and bit them hard to keep from laughing. Her face scrunched up with the effort. Cliff and Mirage wore twin looks of delight. "Fayt," she managed, voice wobbling. "It looks sweet."

In fact, the clothes looked good on him. But his _face_. He wore an expression that suggested someone had proposed he jump out of the Falcon naked.

It was too much. Three of the four people in the room burst into laughter while Fayt sat with his arms folded, trying not to smile.

Things quieted down soon enough. Sophia had breakfast, graciously washed the dishes and readied herself for the journey. Before she had time to have second thoughts, Mirage came to tell her they could be transported to the surface any time they wanted. They met up with Cliff and Fayt in the hallway. There was a sword hanging from Fayt's belt this time: he wasn't taking any chances.

"Wait a second," Fayt said, moving to a replicator on the wall. He stood there typing for quite a while before an object appeared in front of him.

It was a brown newsboy cap. He grinned and put it on. "All right, now I'm ready."

He looked a very young twenty. In fact, if Sophia hadn't known his actual age, she would've judged him seventeen at most. The look suited him in an odd way. With that outfit and his almost too-honest eyes he could easily pass for the kind of boy that hadn't a care in the world beyond making mischief. And that smile. Sophia flinched inwardly. If these thoughts didn't spell out 'infatuation' loud and clear, she didn't know what did.

She showed no outward sign and moved forward towards the transporter room, pulling on her coat. Mirage handed her a soft orange scarf to wrap around her neck.

"How cold will it be, exactly?" Sophia asked, donning a backpack.

"Freezing. Vanguard III has 'extreme seasonal weather'," Cliff replied cheerfully. He winked. "Keep each other warm now."

"We're not like that," Fayt said, rolling his eyes. "Not that you'd understand the concept…"

Cliff's brows rose. "What's that thing Earthlings say about a river in Egypt?"

Mirage finished for him. "Denial."

Fayt sighed and accepted a scarf from her. "Remind me to look up some bad Klausian sayings I can throw back at you when I return."

"We'll see you soon," Cliff said, shrugging while Fayt and Sophia got into the transporter.

"Good luck."

Sophia felt her stomach lurch a little as she was transported. Despite his earlier denials, Fayt's hand was warm in hers as they landed in the middle of Vanguard's icy winter.


	3. Vampiric Tendencies

Title: To Claim and Reclaim

A/N: Between sleepovers, film nights and heaps of homework I feel I've earned the right for a slow update again. The reviews made it a whole lot quicker than it would've been though. X3

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Ocean 3. If I did my story wouldn't be called 'fanfiction'.

* * *

**  
Vampiric Tendencies**

The first thought to enter Sophia's head while she took in her surroundings was that Vanguard III would never have to invent freezers. She and Fayt sank down to their knees in snow when they landed. Now they stood in the middle of a pearly white forest, ears ringing with the cold and thinking very similar thoughts about the weather.

"I c-c-can hardly remember it like this," Fayt stammered, jaw shaking so fast the movement was almost imperceptible. "Pesotto Forest was a whole lot nicer last time."

Sophia nodded. "M-maybe we shouldn't talk too much," she said, talking through clenched teeth to keep a stammer at bay. "You lead."

Fayt nodded. They plodded through the snow in single file, warmed by the exercise but still painfully cold wherever skin was exposed. They'd been transported down about a mile from Whipple. A mile was a long way when you were knee-deep in snow. Sophia felt a bit guilty for making Fayt take the lead when it meant he'd be the one having to make some kind of path through it, but if she tried to take the lead they'd only waste energy on disagreeing.

Suddenly Fayt grabbed her hand and ran forwards. She followed to keep from falling, slipping and sliding anyway. "It's here!" Fayt shouted at her. Sure enough, there were quaint little cottages hidden among the trees, brown walls peeking out from under a white blanket.

They ran past a few houses, then slowed their pace.

"Fayt," Sophia began. "There're no new tracks in the snow. Do you think it's deserted?"

It certainly_ looked_ deserted. Maybe the villagers migrated like birds, moving south for the winter. The only inconsistency was that Cliff had definitely said the problems were near where Fayt was last time and had implied his friends were in danger.

_What? _Her mind took on a rather sardonic tone. _You think the whole village has been kidnapped in this kind of weather?_

They ploughed on past cottages and half-visible fences. Sophia didn't like the stony silence. It was broken only by their breathing, both of them panting painfully. Their breath had steadied by the time they got to the last cottage. Fayt stepped up the stairs and knocked on the door, prompting a fall of snow off the roof.

There was no response for a long time. Sophia was brushing snow from her skirt when a voice from inside called, "Who's there?" It sounded rather desperate, more like a trapped animal than the boy she guessed it belonged to.

"Niklas?" Fayt replied. "Are you all right?"

It was silent for another few seconds. The door opened slowly and a boy with long, droopy ears peeked out.

He stared. "Fayt?"

"Long time no see, Niklas."

Something Sophia initially identified as a rather large missile flew through the open doorway and thumped into Fayt's chest. Fayt caught it, hugged it and put it on the ground, where it unrolled to reveal a younger girl with ears like the boy's.

Sophia stood on the outlines, rather awkward as Fayt and his young friends were reunited. When they'd greeted each other thoroughly, Fayt turned to her and beckoned. "This is my friend Sophia," he said to them. Then to her, "The boy is Niklas and the little girl is Meena. Not as little as last time though!"

Niklas greeted her rather formally while Meena stood behind one of Fayt's legs, smiling shyly. Sophia smiled at the two of them. "Pleased to meet you." She kept quiet for a moment, then asked, "Are you two here alone?"

Smiles faded instantly. "Come inside," Niklas said. "I am glad you are here."

Not an answer, but Sophia was sure she'd get one soon enough.

Though the house was pretty big for just two children, it gave the impression of being cluttered – mostly because there were furs and blankets strewn around haphazardly. Sophia was hard put not to start tidying up until she realised it was that way to keep the heat in.

She followed Fayt's example of shaking snow off his boots and jacket and removing them. It wasn't warm inside, not by any stretch of the imagination, but if they got too used to having their jackets on inside they wouldn't have any use outside.

They sat down at a table placed very near the kitchen stove. At least there was a fire going somewhere, even if the size of the place should have afforded a huge fireplace. Meena poured out hot water for all of them, never daring to look up from her task.

Sophia eyed her drink. Warm water was and always would be disgusting to drink, but ice cold water wouldn't do and she knew it. She cuddled her cup to her chest, hoping to warm hands and body.

Niklas cleared his throat. "Norton is no more. We thank you for that, Fayt." Sophia felt pride stir inside her. "But we cannot ask you to deal with this problem. It is too… grand a scale. Not only our village is involved, but all the villages we know of."

"What's the problem?" Fayt asked, unaffected. They'd been expecting trouble, after all.

"A man who calls himself our king came to our village with many guards. He demanded all the able-bodied people in the village go with him to work on his land. We refused, of course. We have our own lands to take care of. However, a man wearing a mask pulled out a weapon like Norton's and shot the village chief when we didn't comply. I believe he said it was 'to make us reconsider'."

A scowl was forming on Fayt's features. "They took everyone, then? Except for you?"

Meena and Niklas shook their heads, the latter answering, "My ankle was in bad shape at the time, and Meena was too young. When the villagers saw the guards wouldn't take us, one of them pretended to have a broken leg and another old man started putting on something about a disease of the lungs. They left us behind."

Fayt nodded. "The man with the mask, what was he like? Was the mask white and attached to a bag-like hood?"

Niklas nodded. "Do you know him?"

Sophia couldn't hear Fayt's answer, stunned as she was. _Vendeeni? _a terrified voice in her mind kept repeating. _Here?_

She shook herself. Fayt was asking Niklas all kinds of things while Meena listened attentively. Something about the king. Was there any such thing? Had they experienced the like before? It seemed Whipple and the surrounding villages had been a leaderless society before this king figure came along.

_But the Vendeeni…_Sophia pondered. _I thought they'd been wiped out. I thought I'd never see one again, after Biwig._

"Are you all right, Sophia?" Fayt asked suddenly. Her lips twitched. Fayt's voice always took on a certain tone when he inquired after her wellness. Always. She'd never heard it at any other time.

"Yes. You think the Vendeeni are behind this?"

Niklas frowned. "The Vendeeni? What do you mean?"

Fayt explained in his UP3-friendly way, "Where we come from, we often have trouble with a people called the Vendeeni. They threaten us with weapons like the one you saw and try to take things from us. Our food, our land, they want everything we have that they don't."

"They're so mean," Meena said suddenly, tiny hand turning into a fist on the tabletop. "Can you help us? Like you helped us with Norton?"

There seemed to be no doubt in Meena's mind that Fayt would be able to handle whatever was haunting Whipple. Niklas looked shocked at his sister's boldness. "Meena!" he said loudly. "We couldn't possibly –"

Fayt held a finger to his lips. "You can and you will. I came here to help." He sneaked a glance at Sophia. "No. _We_ came here to help."

Her stomach flipped over in response to his smile. She was chagrined when she realised he'd conveniently turned the conversation towards her – intentional or not. She could tell Niklas and Meena were wondering why she was here.

"Um," she started. "I'm a friend of Fayt's. He told me you might be in trouble, so I came to help."

"Where is it that you both come from, that everyone is so generous and eager to help?" Niklas asked wonderingly.

Fayt and Sophia shared a glance. "Not nearly everyone is like that there! It's… far away." Fayt nodded in agreement.

"With the two of us working together, we'll bring back everyone for sure. I promise. First we have to find them though." He downed the contents of his cup. "Which way did they go?"

"East, but –"

"Then we leave as soon as we're ready. You almost finished?"

Sophia nodded. She finished her drink and stood up. "How long ago did they leave?"

"A month, maybe two. Gavin and the old man are doing their best to take care of us, but game is scarce during winter, and the so-called 'King' took most of the harvest. Please, Fayt, Sophia, be careful. "

They nodded. "Are you sure you don't want to stay for longer?" Sophia whispered for Fayt's ears alone. It was obvious he cared for the two small Vanguardians.

Fayt nodded.

It was a quick visit and a quicker farewell when it came. Sophia watched as Meena hugged Fayt, an expression of complete trust on her face. Niklas was more distant, but anyone could see he had as much faith in Fayt as his little sister.

_I wonder what it's like, _Sophia wondered. _Being a hero._

It didn't take too long before they were knee-deep in snow again. Movement was the only thing keeping them from freezing. "I could get used to this," Fayt said, out of breath.

"I could get used to a warm bath," Sophia moaned in reply. "Where will we sleep?"

"I'm hoping to find a cave, but we do have a tent…"

"Set up a tent in this muck?" Sophia trudged up to walk next to him. "I hope not. But wait a moment. Is stealth a priority on this trip?"

"As long as we don't go around wearing T-shirts that say 'there is intelligent life in the stars' we should be all right. Why?"

She held up her hand in reply, halting him. He'd been breaking a path for her up until then, but she had an idea. Sinking down into the snow, she called, "Fire bolt!" It was repeated until a steaming path stretched out before them, blessedly snow-free.

Sophia stood up to admire her handiwork. _Clever, if I do say so myself_, she thought with a half-smile.

"You never fail to amaze me," Fayt said. "Are you sure you're younger than I am?"

Sophia turned around to face him. "I just have more common sense. A little bird told me you were tortured and in many nigh-death situations and still managed to worry about the UP3."

Fayt flinched and looked away. "A little bird told you? That sounds like a big black-and-yellow bird to me."

They laughed and moved on, walking next to each other this time. Sophia blasted open a path every so often. All the training was finally serving a purpose; she'd evolved into a human snowplough. It made their journey a whole lot easier, so she wasn't complaining. The occasional jokes and conversations brightened the trip considerably too.

When her mental energy started to drain more than she meant it to, she stopped for a moment. Her hand came up to tug at a lock of hair.

"What's wrong?" Fayt asked.

"I'm just wondering. Would explosions make the snow fall from the trees?"

He considered for a moment, looking around. "We probably shouldn't risk it. Are you getting tired?"

They'd been walking for a long time. Her body was aching, but she didn't like admitting it. _Didn't I say I carry my own weight?_ She considered a moment. "Are you?"

Fayt looked surprised. The old Sophia would probably have agreed to being tired. In fact, she would've spent the better part of an hour complaining about how badly her feet hurt. Didn't he realise she'd changed? She was desperately trying to, anyway.

"Definitely. Studying made me go all soft."

It was Sophia's turn to be surprised. Fayt never used to admit to weakness. Was he doing it for her benefit? She had the sneaking suspicion he might be.

They rested and unconsciously set the pattern for the rest of the day. Sophia would melt anything in their way, Fayt would gauge when she was getting tired and when he'd seen a sign of it he'd say they should rest, no questions asked. Sophia didn't know whether to be thankful or annoyed.

By nightfall they'd found a cave. It wasn't roomy by any stretch of the imagination; to get in, they had to belly crawl past a rock that covered the entrance. There was more space inside, but not a lot more. Thick brown hairs were strewn over the ground. Apparently, the last occupant was a Vanguardian bear.

When he sat upright, Fayt's head touched the tree roots above. He kept his head slightly bent while Sophia held a firebolt close to his soaked garments. Belly crawling through snow had left both of them sodden.

"Could you call Cliff to ask if we're going the right way?" Fayt asked, feeling a bit embarrassed. He took a rather wet communicator from his trouser pocket and showed it to her. "I forgot about this until I was halfway through."

He flipped it open, earning a buzz in return. "It'll get over it." He dropped it back into his pocket.

Once Sophia finished drying herself, she pulled a bright pink communicator from her backpack. Fayt was strangely comforted by the sight of it; he saw a tiny cat plushie hanging from it, testimony that she hadn't changed completely. He leaned back against the cave wall. His whole body ached from all the walking, but everything seemed right in the world. A firebolt hovered in the air, covering both of them in soft light and heat. A casual demonstration of Sophia's skill, that she could phone and control her symbology at the same time.

She was perfect, with her skirt flared out around her and a pink glow to her cheeks. The light picked out summer's blond highlights in her hair, out of place in Vanguard. Her eyes were cast upwards while she waited for Cliff to receive the call.

Fayt tore his eyes away from her, focussing instead on unpacking their dinner. He prepared it while she spoke to Cliff. There was a crease between her eyebrows when she hung up.

"We're too far north," she informed Fayt, picking up a carrot. "We must have missed a fork at some point. Cliff says we should be able to move south easily enough – it's downhill. There should be some kind of path."

They shared a tired smile. After a feast of vegetables and dried meat, they curled up under the thick blankets the Falcon had supplied them with. There was probably a whole line of inventors that had lived to make the blankets as warm as possible. Fayt was convinced that their efforts were sorely wasted, because the blankets barely helped. Fayt and Sophia learned a hard lesson that night:

Nights on Vanguard III were _cold_.

Fayt was trying to preserve heat by curling up as tightly as possible, but there was a limit to how effective that was. He was still wide awake and shivering when he saw Sophia sit up. She was shaking violently. Fayt jumped when she summoned half a dozen firebolts without warning.

"Sophia! Are you all right?"

She turned towards him, eyes wide. "It's j-just so c-cold." The firebolts swerved dangerously close to her face.

"You'll get burned if you do that," Fayt told her, sitting up too. "Here, put those away."

Sophia complied. He was hard-put to see her in the darkness, but he could locate her – more or less – by the sound of her teeth chattering. She jumped when he put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, but I'd rather not wake up next to a pile of ash tomorrow. That is, if I don't die of cold."

"What do you mean?"

Fayt closed his eyes. He could imagine just what Sophia looked like at that moment, with her eyes wide open and a look on her face that likened her to a deer caught in the headlights. He didn't, however, imagine how badly she was blushing.

Sophia was thankful for the dark. Very soon, she was thankful for the cold too.

They lay down together, her back to his front. They'd lain like it before, but it had been a long time ago. Fayt's arm was over her, clutching the two blankets tightly over them. His other held her around the waist.

A multitude of emotions were flitting through her. Excitement, dread, a shallow happiness at finally being warm. Most of all, she was swamped by hope. It was getting harder and harder to quench it recently.

"Do you remember what we used to call this?" Warm breath tickled her neck. She ducked her head.

When she and Fayt were small, they'd had words for all kinds of things. This particular way of lying down had been called seashell-shape. That had been before they learned the term 'spooning'. It was one of many things they'd thought up. Her habit of puffing out her cheeks had become the 'Sophia-face'. Fayt had invented the 'thinking-face', naturally. Between the two of them, they could probably have set up a small dictionary.

"Of course I do," she mumbled. Her body was still trembling, but she felt blissfully warm.

Fayt was quiet for a moment. "Don't leave again when we go back to Earth," he said finally, voice soft. "At least keep in contact."

Sophia stiffened. What did he want from her? There was only so much she could take, and the watery 'best friend who wants to be more'-position wasn't very desirable. She knew; she'd been in it for years.

"I'll try," she said after a while. It was a bad habit of hers, aiming to please without regard to the truth. It was one she couldn't really let go of.

"You always used to promise, when you meant it…"

Sophia sighed. It was just a small promise. She could always revert back in time.

Her hand curled around his.

"I promise."

- - -

The next day found them walking steadily south through the forest, dodging trees and jumping melt water streams. It was afternoon before something went wrong. They were scaling down a slope when hissing noises sounded from below.

Fayt jumped down to level ground. He blanched. "Sophia, stay there. It's a spider cave."

With that, he drew his sword in time to cut a hissing creature in half mid-leap. Goo scattered around. It was a large arachnid-type creature, spider-shaped but with the build of a grasshopper. At least, it would be if it wasn't lying in two pieces. Loud hissing noises sounded from below as the area's other occupants realised something had happened.

Sophia was still above the cave, looking down. Fayt had told her to stay up there, but she had the feeling he'd need help.

Thus she ignored his warning and hopped down next to him, turning to face a rather large cavern under the slope she'd been standing on. She flinched at the sight of her adversaries. God help them, they were _ugly._ And big. For a moment she wished she'd brought her staff after all, just so she could keep them all at arm's length.

_Nothing for it… _"Explosion!" she and Fayt called at the same time. The whole valley shook. Spiders flew left and right, several of them jumping towards Fayt and Sophia.

Was it her or did these seem bigger than the one Fayt had attacked? Where that failure of creation had been two feet at most, these seemed at least a foot longer.

"These ones have armour!" Fayt called just before one collided with his shoulder. Sophia forced her eyes away from him in time to see a spider jump for her.

"Fire bolt!" she cried, panicking. If only she could stop thinking how ugly the things were and how badly she wanted to avoid being touched by them. Three bolts thudded into the creature, none doing very much damage but managing to throw it off balance. It landed a few feet from her. "Efreet!" she called, swooping in to finish it off.

When her enemy was a steaming black mass in the charred ground – which didn't take very long at all – she turned to see Fayt under the onslaught of five of the things. He was fighting the things grimly, slicing of their unprotected legs to avoid the armour.

Sophia rushed to his aid, sending symbology in all its colourful elements. It was a moment before she stopped blasting spells and noticed Fayt was moving oddly.

No wonder. There was a spider riding on his left shoulder, digging its fangs deep into his skin.

It was a good thing battle giddiness had taken over Sophia's mind, because the sight of it was horrible. She put Fayt into cure condition and blasted the spider off his shoulder.

The fight was over soon enough, with spiders smouldering in the snow or rocking back and forth uselessly with their legs lopped off. For a moment everything seemed fine, but then Fayt sagged down to his knees, panting.

Not normal behaviour. Sophia summoned up a healing spell while she ran to him.

"What's wrong?"

He was breathing heavily, one hand favouring his left shoulder. His coat bore the dark stain of blood. Without another thought, Sophia undid his coat and the vest under it, pulling his shirt aside too to reveal the wound.

It was a putrid mess, bleeding sluggishly. Sophia cast cure condition. Sophia cast antidote. Sophia cast healing.

Nothing worked.

She pried at the wound with her fingers, trying to understand what was wrong. Why was it bleeding so slowly? Blood should have been pouring out. She could easily identify poison, but that was it. Something was preventing her symbology from working.

She'd read books about what people did in situations like these before symbology was invented. The correct action was to draw the poison out. Not wasting another moment, she put her lips to the wound and sucked hard, then spat out her mouthful.

"Ah!" Fayt said suddenly, glancing to see what she was doing. She continued. "I thought Albel was the one with vampiric tendencies."

Her lips curved, but that was the only response she could allow. Suck, spit, suck, spit. The books hadn't said how long she should continue.

Fayt shivered. "I think it might be frozen somehow. It feels like petrification but it's cold."

Sophia stopped what she was doing and rummaged in her backpack for some sage and lavender. They were neatly stored in a side pocket, and before he knew it Fayt had multiple sprigs of each stuffed into his mouth.

Eyes watering, he chewed and swallowed. The swelling seemed to go down.

"Better?" Sophia asked desperately. Fayt nodded. She cast antidote again, blissfully happy when it worked instead of bouncing off like last time.

Excitement over, she licked her sleeve to get rid of the taste of blood. "Pfeh."

Fayt rubbed his exposed shoulder. "Those things were nasty. I really am glad you came."

Sophia watched him as he tugged his clothes back into place. "You wouldn't have used a different tactic if I wasn't there?"

He looked away. Obviously, his destruction gene still bothered him. It was strange he didn't want to use it in front of her.

"Hey, I'm a freak too, remember?" she said, determined to cheer him up.

Fayt shook his head. "Connecting things is a whole lot better than completely destroying them."

Sophia gestured at the valley around them, smoking spider-corpses included. "We did this without our special genes, but does it make those creatures any less dead? It's all means to an end."

He stood up and extended his hand to her. "Thanks, Sophia. You always know the right things to say."

The rest of the trip passed without any other near-death experiences. Not necessarily without further mishaps though. The day of the spider fight, Sophia fell in a hole just too deep to get out of without getting soaked and dirty. Fayt consented to drag her out of it – but only if she let him hold her again that night. She didn't bother mentioning she'd fall in holes the rest of her life if that was what it took for him to hold her, but then, it wasn't the most romantic concept there was.

They finally reached their destination on the morning of the fifth day. They'd been walking along, happily blasting snow out of existence when a fire bolt thudded out against a huge wall. Further inspection revealed that acres of land had been enclosed by a dome-shaped greenhouse, its purpose made clear by the sight of Vanguardians labouring inside.

Sophia tapped against the glass of the dome. "Does this look UP3 friendly to you?" Fayt asked with an ironic smile on his lips.

She shook her hand and stepped away from the huge structure, disturbed by what she'd seen inside. Her insides were squirming at the thought of going in there. They'd glimpsed a village further along; gathering information might be more important than infiltrating the enemy camp for the moment.

Especially when the enemy camp was ruled by Vendeeni overseers.


	4. Revolution of Three

Title: To Claim and Reclaim

A/N: Thanks for the reviews as always. They really help. (And they make me a very happy little Star Ocean fan too.) Now, I'll have to mention two things: today I finally saw the "Are you unhappy with me, my princess?" scene between Sophia and Fayt. Aww! Previously I always made Fayt call her an idiot because it made Albel like him more, but I have repented. The second is that a good friend of mine made a Fayt+Sophia signature for me. It's really pretty. I've put it up on my profile page. Inspires me to no end. :D This chapter is kind of bleh because it's just story line, but that's necessary too.

Disclaimer: I own a copy of Star Ocean Till the End of Time, but not the copyright. Sigh.

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**  
Revolution of Three**

The village was awash with slushy snow and bustle. People with droopy ears were everywhere, sloshing through the village half-heartedly. Each one of them seemed to be carrying at least one burden. More often than not, their arms were filled with crates and sacks of vegetables.

There was something behind that layer of movement. It was a fact; Sophia could feel it in the back of her neck. Not by some kind of instinct, but because the Vendeeni had installed a chip there that gave her a light shock whenever a Vendeeni was near. On board the Dasvanu, it had spared her captors the trouble of waking her when they came to give her and Dr Leingod food. They hadn't installed a chip into the back of _his _neck.

Sophia didn't think they did it to spare themselves trouble; they did it because they could. Who was she? Just another piece in the bargain. Dr Leingod had held potential worth, even if he didn't have his son's powers.

She halted Fayt just outside the village's gates. "There's Vendeeni in there too." Her eyes closed while she concentrated. "Posted at regular intervals along the main road."

Fayt eyed her strangely. "How do you know?"

She readjusted her scarf and lifted her blanket of hair to reveal the small scar the chip's insertion had left behind. From juggling with mirrors, she knew the look of that tiny red scar on her neck, hardly visible. "They put a chip there to alert me whenever one was near." She let her hair fall back into place.

Fayt brushed it aside again with a hand that shook. He ran his thumb over the tiny scar. "They hurt you?"

Sophia shook her head, shivers running down her spine. "No. It's not painful. It just ensures that I'm awake."

Fayt let it rest, but Sophia knew she hadn't heard the last of it.

They snuck through the village avoiding the main road. Their attire didn't include gelatine ears, so it would be easy for the Vendeeni to pick them out from the Vanguardians. The detour meant their feet got soaked worse than if they'd hazarded the main road. Neither cared much.

There was a mansion at the back of the village that could easily house a man that thought himself king. Naturally, that was their destination. Sophia and Fayt had already decided they'd civilly ask the king to let the Vanguardians go, then use violence. They were pretty sure it'd come down to violence, but at least they could say they'd tried of they talked first.

They reached their destination. The security had been lax in the village; the Vendeeni had nothing to fear. Still, it seemed they'd decided to guard the mansion more attentively.

"Ready to come out?" one of the guards shouted suddenly. Fayt and Sophia jumped. How long had the Vendeeni known they were there?

"Yeah, we were just about to," Fayt said, smoothly tugging Sophia along as he walked up to the mansion's gate. Her hand was trembling. "We've come to speak to your 'King,' or however you prefer to call him."

The guard scoffed, others around him repeating the gesture. "Him, our king?" said one. "Hardly."

Fayt folded his arms. "Fine. We've come to speak to whoever thinks he's in charge."

"More like it," the first guard grunted. "And why would we want to let you past?"

"Because you're disobeying the UP3 in every single way. If we report you, the Federation'll be here before you have the time to list what the three P's stand for. And they won't be coming for a friendly visit."

It was true; the Federation was aching for reasons to obliterate the Vendeeni once and for all. Their morals kept them from doing so without cause, but if it could be justified the Federation would wipe the universe clean of Vendeeni.

The guards bristled. Fayt had to stop himself from insulting them further. The knowledge that they'd hurt Sophia was fresh in his mind, and he certainly had the power to make their lives hell.

Or dust. Less than dust, even.

Venting his frustration on them wouldn't help Meena and Niklas, he reminded himself. What was done was done. "So do you really want to be refusing us entry?" he concluded.

"We can take you out right now, earthworm." To prove it, a Vendeeni pulled out his gun and shot at Sophia. It happened in a flash. Fayt saw the gun and erased it from existence, along with the beam that sprang from it. No light effects, no wings. Just deletion, simple and clean.

The other guards stared in shock. A few Vanguardians had stopped to watch the event too, and they looked at Fayt with unveiled admiration, though they didn't understand what he'd done. "Try that again and I'll send you after your gun," Fayt concluded viciously. The man had aimed at Sophia. Fayt had insulted and threatened them, but the man had aimed at Sophia. The thought of it made Fayt see red.

The guards at the gate discussed rapidly. Scattered whispers reached Fayt's ears: "…the Leingod boy…" "…blew up a whole ship…" "…don't know what he's capable of…"

He sighed and put a hand on his hip. "Have you come to a conclusion?"

"You may enter, but the girl stays here. To ensure your goodwill."

Fayt's stomach wrenched. Leave Sophia with those guys? No way. They'd mistreated her before and could do so again. Even the knowledge that he could annihilate the Vendeeni within seconds didn't compensate that. Besides, if they were touching her, it might be hard for him to erase just the Vendeeni; what if he accidentally sent her with them?

"I'll let you take custody of my sword, but there's no way I'm leaving Sophia here."

It wasn't like they had a choice. The guards were probably surprised Fayt surrendered his sword. So was Fayt. He might have the destruction gene to rely on, but it wasn't something designed for heavy use. His battle skills were much more reliable. They wouldn't take care of an enemy half as quickly, but they wouldn't leave him dizzy, disorientated and tired afterwards either. The bigger the object he destroyed, the longer he had to recuperate. The only reason he was still conscious was that the gun had been small and hadn't required the full use of the skill. That and the abruptness of it.

There was no point backing out now. He'd offered his sword; it would be taken as a sign of weakness to ask for it back. He needed to seem invincible.

Fayt and Sophia were grudgingly allowed into the mansion. It was adorned with red carpets, tacky gold statues and paintings that were made to look older than they were. It would impress someone from Vanguard, but it looked more like a cheap restaurant to Fayt and Sophia. "Was the decoration your doing?" Fayt asked the Vendeeni guard.

He grunted in response. "Keep silent, earthworm."

_Guess you can subdue a Vendeeni, but never his attitude_, Fayt thought wryly. He glanced at Sophia. She was looking rather pale. When she saw him watching her, she conjured a reassuring smile. He knew her well enough to know it didn't necessarily mean anything, but her smile always calmed him.

They were led to and left in front of a large oak door. Their guide went in and talked for a moment, then let them in. A man with telltale droopy ears sat at a desk, eyeing them as they walked in. His posture and – rather overdone – attire told them who he was. Other than that, he could've been any farmer plucked off the land. When Fayt thought about it, it could easily be true.

"What do you want?" the Vanguardian asked, eyes skimming past Fayt to look at Sophia. Noticing this, Fayt stepped forward so he was half-shielding her.

"We want you to release the villagers."

The man was shocked out of his reverie, eyes shooting back to look at Fayt. He laughed for a second. "I think we got off on the wrong foot. Let's start again." He stood up and came to stand in front of them, leaning back on his desk and folding his arms. "Now, let me introduce myself. I'm Julian, ruler of this humble operation. And you are?"

"I'm Fayt, and this is Sophia. We're friends of two children you abandoned in Whipple." Fayt folded his arms, scowling.

"Friends? You're not even from here." To prove it, Julian stalked forwards and traced a finger along the shell of Sophia's ear casually. Fayt felt rather than saw her cringe. The Vanguardian must have noticed too, because he retracted his hand with a smirk. "May I inquire as to how long you'll be staying?"

Sophia took a step away from him so Fayt was between them. Fayt sighed, wishing she'd fight back instead of retreat. When had she become so submissive? It had to have happened somewhere between Hyda and the fight with the Creator, but Fayt couldn't think where he'd gone wrong.

"I'd appreciate it if you could keep your hands off Sophia," he told Julian. He aimed to look menacing, but he wasn't too sure it worked. His head felt weird from using his powers. Standing up straight was becoming a chore. If they didn't find a way to get out of the public eye, everyone would see what using his powers did to Fayt.

"Would she?" Julian asked tauntingly.

"Yes," Sophia said suddenly, the first time she'd spoken since they entered the village. It was said through gritted teeth. She hadn't wanted to offend someone they were supposed to be negotiating with, but he'd crossed the line. Not only that; she could tell something was wrong with Fayt. His eyes were over bright and his right hand was shaking. His fingers twitched from time to time. "Do you intend to negotiate with us or are you just going to waste our time?"

"Ouch. It depends. What kind of bargain am I looking at here?"

Fayt folded his arms again. "You release everyone and we let you live."

Sophia glanced at him, shocked. During their trip they'd discussed what compromises they would settle for and the one Fayt suggested wasn't one of the likely ones. She noticed he was frighteningly pale. Her shock turned to worry. If they didn't get him away from here soon, the Vendeeni would see his weakness. He was close to staggering. She stepped close to him so he could lean undetected.

"What is this superpower he talked about, then?" Julian asked, nodding to the Vendeeni guard still by the door.

"I'll show you."

There was an ugly suit of armour in the corner. Sophia had noticed when she came in. She'd also be the last to do so; Fayt erased it indifferently. She felt his knees buckle when the lightshow was over. "You idiot," she hissed in his ear while Julian goggled at the empty corner. She held Fayt up around the waist long enough for him to regain some composure.

"Impressive."

Sophia jumped, turning to see another Vendeeni enter the room. This one held himself more proudly than the guards. He flicked a hand at Fayt. "Of course, it would be more impressive if he could stand up straight afterwards without help from the wench."

For a moment, Sophia thought Biwig had come back to life; this Vendeeni talked with the exact same voice. Maybe it was the arrogance that likened them to each other. Either way, it took a second for her to unfreeze and remember Biwig was dead. She hadn't been tortured by the Vendeeni; they'd hardly bothered with her really. Despite that, she'd been so scared. So scared they might live up to their threats: _"If you don't quiet down, I might have to_ _take off a finger to see if the squeaking stops. You have ten, anyway." "We might have to infuse that if you won't eat it. But it would be a shame to waste any of our better doctors on an earthworm like you…"_

The memory of fear was almost worse than the fear at the time.

The Vendeeni continued, "You might be powerful, but you are not indestructible yourself. Reports say you fainted after you blew up our ship."

Sophia cursed under her breath. Why had Fayt risen to Julian's challenge? They should have kept up their façade, at least a bit longer. Now she was stuck with an ally fighting for consciousness and three enemies who believed themselves perfectly capable of taking her out. If all three of them came at her at once, she was in trouble.

_Sophia_, she told herself. _If worst comes to worst, you cast thunder flare and drag Fayt away. It should buy you enough time._ Her inner voice sounded like Nel when it discussed battle tactics.

"We came here to negotiate, not to show off," she tried desperately. She addressed the Vendeeni leader. "If the Federation finds out about this, you're done for. We're willing to leave you in peace if you agree to our conditions."

"Tempting. However, you forget that we are not the ones in charge." He bowed smoothly to Julian.

"I'm more interested in other bargains, to be honest," Julian admitted, grin tugging at his lips. "I'd release five villagers for your woman," he told Fayt. "What do you say?"

Fayt eyed Sophia with a half-smile. "My woman," he said to her. "D'you hear that?"

Then he straightened, stepped away from her and spat on the floor in front of Julian. Sophia's astonishment increased threefold when he proceeded to walk out of the room.

Julian laughed. "We got off on the wrong foot, again. Didn't mean to prod his weak spot. Well, maybe I did. Couldn't resist. He shouldn't wear it so openly. Girl, there's two rooms to the right. Your friend can rest there if he wants."

She eyed him suspiciously. "And why would you want to show us any hospitality?"

He shrugged. "You may prove useful." Sophia didn't miss the glance Julian threw at the Vendeeni leader, but she was more worried about Fayt. With one last wary look over her shoulder, she ran after him.

Fayt hadn't gotten very far. He was leaning against the wall, breathing heavily. Sophia led him to the room Julian had suggested. It was rather plain compared to the eccentric decorations in the hall, but the bed was all she had eyes for. Fayt collapsed onto it.

Beads of sweat adorned his forehead. His irises held a glowing property that didn't belong in there. "Problem with the parameters," he said through gritted teeth, trying and failing at a half-smile. Sophia wiped his forehead and got him to lie down properly, removing boots and jacket.

"I'll take care of things here. You need to rest. Everything will be fine."

"I used to tell you stuff like that." His glowing eyes were focused vaguely on the ceiling.

"And everything did turn out fine. Now stop trying to stay awake. Don't you trust me?" She allowed a whining tone to creep into her voice.

Fayt looked at her, obviously conflicted. After a moment, he chose to heed her advice. Sleep overcame him.

In truth, Sophia was very uneasy. It was hard to resist the temptation of calling Cliff and teleporting away from the mess on Vanguard III.

Well, it would've been hard to resist if she hadn't known two things. The first was that Fayt would never forgive her if she took the coward's way out; the second was that she would never forgive herself.

So she breathed in deeply, sat down in a chair by Fayt's bed and braced herself for a few long hours of keeping watch.

- - -

When Fayt became aware of his surroundings, he felt an acute sense of déjà vu. The room he was in was foreign to him, but the setting seemed strangely familiar. Sophia was kneeling by his bed, her head resting on her arms. A few moments' observance told him she was sleeping soundly.

Then it struck him: Ameena and Dion. Ameena had died in just that position.

Fayt sat up abruptly, feeling his stomach churn. Thinking of that unlucky couple always filled his head with a thousand 'if only'-s. The sudden movement on the bed made Sophia wake up. Guilt tugged at Fayt's conscience. She needed all the rest she could get.

Her eyes were half open when she looked at him. She looked awfully tired.

"You want a shot of the bed?" Fayt offered.

"I have my own next door. I was afraid they'd do something if I left you."

_They_? Fayt thought slowly. A thread of memory returned. _Oh_, he thought as events came back to him. _Oh. _"Are we safe? What happened?" He slung his legs over the side of the bed.

"After you left? Well, Julian offered us his hospitality. I'm glad he did, because you wouldn't have made it out of the mansion either way."

Fayt looked down, shamefaced. "When my powers manifested it knocked me out immediately. Smaller things don't require the use of the whole skill, so I stay aware. I could even stay awake if I only used it once, but I'd be tired. It was stupid to use it again. I put both of us in danger."

Sophia smiled sympathetically. "He has a weird way of showing it, but I think Julian wants our help."

"He wants _you_."

She shook her head. "He wanted to get at you. He was assuming that we – he was assuming things. It's logical he'd try to provoke you. He thought I'd be your weak spot."

Fayt held a hand to his mouth, thinking. Sophia couldn't really be described as a 'weak spot'. He had no defences against her; that was true. If she wanted to ruin him, she could. He'd rather face the Creator and a million like him than face her rejection. But she was also his strong point. Her support kept him going. Fayt had only to look at their period of separation to figure that one out. Student life was supposed to get one drunk, but it wasn't supposed to make one into an emotional, intoxicated wreck.

_You make yourself sound like an alcoholic_, Fayt thought, smiling mentally. That wasn't true. He'd been having problems coming to terms with things once the adventure was over. The mystery of life had been – at least partly – revealed, he held a terrible power he didn't know all that much about and his best friend had left him. That Sophia distanced herself had felt like confirmation that there was something wrong with him. He needed her. Perhaps that was weakness?

"Why would he want to get at me?"

"The Vendeeni feared you enough to let you in. He wants a hold over you. I don't know!"

She got up from her kneeling position and fell back into the chair behind her. "I'm worried, Fayt." She sighed, wrinkles forming between her brows to prove her concern. "They could kill us in our sleep. Just now, I fell asleep when I should've been keeping watch. We can't always have one of us awake, can we?"

Fayt frowned. "What about that chip?"

"Chip?" She looked confused for a moment. Then she remembered. "Oh…"

"Feel better?"

She nodded, smiling sheepishly. "Don't know how I could forget."

Both reasonably reassured of their situation, they found themselves capable of forming a plan. Their previous plan to use physical violence alone wouldn't be the most apt, now they knew the situation. Simply killing off the Vendeeni was a stupid idea. Neither Fayt nor Sophia was the kind to initiate a holocaust when there was a more diplomatic answer.

Still, it was tempting…

Fayt shook himself. The Vendeeni had killed his father and possibly mistreated Sophia, not to mention all the people he didn't know that they'd abused or killed. It was natural enough not to feel very merciful towards them, but he had to set himself above that.

"I suppose we could just hang it over their heads," he said finally, reverting back to the present. They'd agreed threats might be enough to keep the Vendeeni subdued. Though both Sophia and Fayt didn't like the idea, Vanguard III was already enmeshed in a series of UP3 violations. The best course of action was probably to teach them to live with it and make sure the conditions were humane.

Sophia nodded. "We get them to swear to treat them right. In return, the Vanguardians work and get a part of what they harvest. The Vendeeni retreat over time. I can't help thinking half of the Vanguardians probably starve during this season. The greenhouse might be a good idea."

"But this will alter the planet's development. I don't like it."

"What do you propose then? Tell the Vendeeni they can either retreat immediately or die? Believe me, Fayt. We give them until spring to move out and they will. We tell them to leave or die and they'll take it as a challenge. I know them better than you do. Their will to survive probably loses from their arrogance."

Fayt looked at her. "You'd forgive them, even though they hurt you?"

"It's harder to forgive them when I think of all the people they hurt, but I don't want to be like them in any way. So no killing."

During their adventure two years ago, it was all right to cut down anything in the way. Fayt sighed. Killing was wrong, but it had been a kind of freedom. Now the only place with that kind of freedom was a battle simulator.

"If you can forgive them, I suppose I can too." Fayt sighed. "So, ready to take another go? I promise I won't be an idiot this time."

"Don't promise things you can't keep to, Fayt," she said teasingly, removing the tension. He glared back, not quite hiding a smile.

This time when Sophia and Fayt entered Julian's office, there was no one there. Sophia concentrated on the dull sensation at the back of her neck. There were Vendeeni around, but they weren't anywhere close. She informed Fayt of it. "Where do you think they went?" she asked him, frowning.

"Calling for reinforcements? I can't believe they'd underestimate us like this. They've left the whole place unprotected."

Sophia shrugged. "Maybe they decided there isn't any purpose trying to subdue you with force. I'm sure they have their reasons."

"Sophia, Fayt." They looked around to see Julian beckoning them. He was standing in the doorway behind the desk. Sophia was sure he wasn't there before, but she hadn't noticed the door opening. The Vanguardian raised his eyebrows. "Would you mind keeping me company for a while?"

After a cursory glance at each other, Fayt and Sophia followed him into an adjoining room. The decorations were much like those in the previous room, but this one had a more private feeling to it. The room suited the situation; Julian was eyeing them with the kind of desperation that smacked of a coming confession.

He gestured at two chairs, sinking down onto a third one himself. "I need your help."

Fayt folded his arms. When Sophia looked at him, she had to fight down a smile. He looked every inch the sulking teenage boy he had once been. "We're all ears," he said after a while.

Julian waited for them to sit down, fidgeted and stood up. He started pacing. "The – Vendeeni – are using me. You know it. I know it. I've known it from the start, actually. But it was a great opportunity. I went from skinning hides to keeping government." He shook his head. "That's no excuse, I know. But… things like this are wrong. I know you won't believe it of me, but I have a conscience."

He came to an abrupt halt, folding his arms and staring at both of them. "They're afraid of you. If you really want to help us, don't just save your friends. Scare off the Vendeeni and I promise I'll do anything I can to help."

That set the terms for the discussion. Sophia was starting to get a headache from all the talk of plans. Constantly striving for justice was harder than it seemed. Fighting seemed relaxing compared to endless diplomacy. Fayt and Julian did most of the talking. Mostly she just listened and nodded whenever one made a good suggestion.

In the end, the plan came down to two important things, not differing much from the one Fayt and Sophia had formed. The first thing was that the Vendeeni would gradually remove their selves; the second was that the Vanguardians remaining in other villages would be offered food and shelter close to the dome. Sophia could tell Fayt found it a bit _too _generous towards the Vendeeni, but she remained steadfast. If things happened gradually, less people would notice. Sending the Vendeeni off within a day would be remembered for longer, which wasn't the desired effect.

When it was all said and done, Fayt, Sophia and Julian waited for the Vendeeni boss to come back. Fayt had his sword back from custody and he kept running his fingers along the hilt. There was an awkward silence in the room. Sophia understood that part of Julian's earlier behaviour had been due to the Vendeeni present, but she had the sneaking suspicion he might still be tempted to tease Fayt. Julian's eyes kept flitting to him, then her, then to the ground while a smile tucked itself into the corners of his mouth. Fayt's expression was somewhere between chagrined and deep in thought. Probably worrying about a thousand and one consequences their actions would have for the galaxy.

They could hear movement in the mansion, and it wasn't long before they heard the Vendeeni leader talking in the study. Fayt, Sophia and Julian walked in to join him and three Vendeeni henchmen.

"We've come to an agreement," Julian said frivolously, sketching an ironic bow. "It will require your – ah – gruelling removal."

A Vendeeni's eyes couldn't narrow – their face plates didn't allow it. But Sophia felt rather than saw four identical glares set on Julian. She watched in amazement as the Vanguardian told his enemies his plan as if it was a calm observance of the weather.

Julian finished with a dramatic sweep of his hand, at Fayt and Sophia. "So you comply, or they call in the higher-and-mightiers."

There was no way the Vendeeni would agree without a fight, and all of them were ready when it came. The threesome had the sense to run outside so there was more space to move in. "Hide," Sophia told Julian urgently. He didn't waste time worrying about her, and she was thankful.

As it was he barely escape the Vendeeni's wrath. They must feel betrayed, to have their pawn turn against them. Sophia clenched her fists, wishing she had her staff. Thunderflare was so much more effective when she had her staff.

She surveyed the situation. Outside, there were more Vendeeni. It was easily two against ten, but it hardly bothered her. While a powerful beam from a Vendeeni rifle could seriously injure a person, they couldn't shoot if she interrupted them.

Her thoughts ended there for a while as her body fell into the easy fighting patterns. Sometimes the familiar feeling she had when she fought could be described as battle giddiness, at others it felt more like a strange calm. It was the same calm she'd summoned when she tried to work the uninstaller while everyone was fighting for their lives.

Fayt had thrown himself in the thick of things, as always. His sword was a blur, now shining as he used blade of fury, then clanging when he deflected beams. Sophia felt adrenaline thick as syrup coarse through her veins. Her mind seemed to throw out symbology in a pace she could hardly keep up with. She was content to let it, hands pushed out and directed at her foes. They shot at her and Fayt, but nothing found a target. Her symbols made sure of that.

"Enough," the leader rasped. Sophia's eyebrows shot up. She'd noted it before, but it only sunk in now that the most henchmen lay on the ground and the leader was unarmed, Fayt's sword point at his throat. "What guarantee do we have?"

Fayt sheathed his sword, and looked into the Vendeeni's eyes blankly.

"I guess you'll just have to trust us."


	5. A New Kind of Glory

Title: To Claim and Reclaim

A/N: Thanks once again for reviewing. (I hardly ever know what to say in review replies besides a lot of thanking and gushing, so that's why I don't always use the option.) I think I got a bit carried away while writing this – my only excuse for its length. That said, my rereading was probably a bit poor this time. Tell me if you find horrendous mistakes! Another note: I do not like using OCs. However, writing a postgame fic without them would be like plucking branches from a tree and trying to make a new one grow from them. Pretty hard.

Disclaimer: Star Ocean 3 isn't mine.

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**  
A New Kind of Glory**

Even sharks retreated now and then. Sophia watched it happen.

The Vendeeni leader held his hands out at the sides, empty. Though Fayt's sword was still sheathed, he was glaring at his opponent so intensely that his sword-tip might as well have remained at the Vendeeni's throat. "Is this a trick?"

Hands turned to fists. "Don't push your luck. We could simply blow up the whole planet, you included. Our ship is in place. It wouldn't be too much of a hassle to aim the cannons at Vanguard III and push the red button. I could give the command right now."

Fayt's gaze remained steady. "But you won't."

"Not if you agree to a compromise." There was no trace of fear in the Vendeeni's harsh voice.

A blue eyebrow rose in question.

"We stay here a year and reap half the profit. Unless that _unacceptable _to you."

"Half a year, no more. Fifty percent is too much for a prolonged length of time."

"I'm sure the Vanguardians prefer it to having their planet blown to bits."

"Forty percent of the harvest, until autumn. Any more and I'm afraid destroying your ship would be far more profitable."

Fayt folded his arms, and Sophia knew it was the end of the discussion. She listened as the Vendeeni leader – unsuccessfully – tried to shift things in his favour. He might as well have been talking to his thoroughly unconscious companions. Fayt remained unswerving.

Sophia stopped listening to the one-sided argument. She brushed herself off – not that she'd gotten dirty – and set about healing the fallen Vendeeni. After healing the third, she noticed Fayt and the Vendeeni leader eyeing her strangely.

"What?" she asked, trying not to blush. It made no sense to leave the guards lying in the snow once the fight was over. However, the look on Fayt's face told her it made no sense to start healing them. "If they're awake, they can help make new arrangements for the people they left behind when they cleared the villages of workers. Someone has to bring them here."

Fayt frowned before nodding reluctantly. Looking back at the Vendeeni leader, he said, "If you allow them to mistreat any of the Vanguardians, you'll be the one to suffer."

The leader's only reply was to humph loudly and turn away, stalking back into the mansion. Sophia watched him go, still slightly surprised that he hadn't fought to the death. Somehow, she'd assumed that pride would always come first. Perhaps even Vendeeni could make decisions that went against their nature when their race depended on it. For a moment she almost felt sorry for the Vendeeni: they had suffered severe losses. While Earth still had an adequate amount of land and colonies to harvest enough to feed its population, the Vendeeni had to resort to breaking the UP3 to feed everyone. They'd never really respected Federation laws, but in their weakened state, they were in no position to break laws and expect to live through it.

Was it right to send them away? She frowned as she healed the last fallen Vendeeni. Complete justice had seemed so simple when everything was black and white. In the past, anyone on her side was good. Anybody hurting her or her friends was bad. The Vendeeni easily fitted into the world's description of bad; she had more reasons to put them there than others. But still…

"The snow melts under your stare," a voice remarked from the sidelines. Sophia glanced up to see Julian. He'd been leaning against a tree, but now he approached her and bowed over her hand, kissing it before she had time to pull away. "I'm sure it would atone for its sins, if it could."

Sophia retracted her hand, blushing. They were a few paces away from where Fayt stood watching the Vendeeni guards suspiciously. She hoped he hadn't switched his glance to her. With her back toward him, she had no way of knowing. "It's not the snow," she mumbled.

Julian leaned in closer, making sure she'd be the only one to hear. "Is it a shared acquaintance?" Sophia knew in whose direction he was nodding.

"It's not like that. I came to help him. We're friends."

Julian drew back. "I confess, I was confused. Why would someone like him take a woman along? Not for the reason I initially thought. He's too sincere a person. But even when I take your battle skills into consideration, it's still unnecessary."

Sophia felt sick. After all that training in the battle simulator, she was still just an accessory? She'd said she carried her own weight. Did she?

"No, don't take it as an insult. It wasn't meant as one. But I feel it helps to prove a point. My conscience demands of me that I – " at this point he lifted a hand, making gestures in the air as if to elaborate " – help you along, for being so kind."

"Kind? I haven't done anything for you."

Julian smiled. "I have the feeling your friend would not be so forgiving if not for your influence. Perhaps that is why he brought you along. Perhaps not." He moved to face both Fayt and Sophia, seeming to shrug off his speculations. His voice rose in volume, making sure Fayt heard him too. "Now, would either of you like something to eat?"

After a moment of silence and matching shrugs from the two he addressed, Julian led the way back into the mansion, a contemplative Sophia and a rather oblivious Fayt following in his wake.

---

After food, rest and more food, Fayt and Sophia were ready for the last leg of their mission: bringing Niklas, Meena and their protectors to the dome. A few of the Vendeeni guards agreed – reluctantly – to gather up the Vanguardians left behind in other abandoned villages.

"Wouldn't it be better to just obliterate the Vendeeni anyway and let the Vanguardians go home?" Fayt asked when they were alone, preparing for the journey ahead. He sounded sorely tempted, though Sophia knew he wasn't serious.

"They'd starve. This winter is terrible, and the Vendeeni took too much of the harvest to stop work at the dome."

A noncommittal sound told her she'd won the argument, if it could be called such. Before leaving, she put a hand on Fayt's arm, halting him when he moved to go out the door. "Fayt, I don't know how well it would work, but…"

Fayt raised his eyebrows.

"I might be able to teleport us to Whipple," she blurted. Fayt still hadn't accepted his own genes; why would he accept hers?

"How?"

"Connecting space – now that I know where Whipple is and what it looks like, I can connect 'here' and 'there' in a sort of portal. I might drop out for a day though." If only she could see what he thought! His face was carefully blank, as if he was trying to shield her from another expression – of what? Disgust, pity? Sophia had no idea.

"Is it dangerous?"

Sophia shook her head.

"You're sure? You've tried it before?"

She waved a finger at him, pouting. "I thought we'd worked out your whole trust issue." It felt wrong to make light of the situation, but she couldn't stand it when Fayt went blank on her.

"You know I trust you. It's our parents I stopped trusting, and they're the ones that gave us these abilities."

Something inside Sophia twisted painfully. He still held a grudge. Sophia had moved away from her parents, but she hadn't done it out of resentment. While finding out she bore the connection gene had upset her, she could understand her parents' reasoning perfectly well and agreed. Straightening, she resolved to help Fayt get over his grudge. It wasn't fair on him _or_ Aunt Ryoko.

But now really wasn't the time. Sophia closed her eyes and focussed. "Ready to go?" she asked. At his affirmation, she reached out for him, her glowing hand joining with his. Her other hand stretched out before her, reaching for the space Whipple resided in.

Sophia's symbology aided her in the search, helping her to look for and hold on to that space her inner sight identified as Whipple. Locking on, she _pulled_. The Eternal Sphere folded to accommodate her.

A single step forward landed them in the small village. Sophia's head reeled. It was the furthest she'd ever gone in one go. For a moment she felt weightless.

Then gravity claimed her and threw her over, pulling her to the ground with more force than her tired body could counter. Fayt caught her. Sophia felt a dim sense of amusement; it was a good thing Fayt's reflexes were nothing to sniff at. This was the second time he'd caught her.

"Are you making a habit out of this?" it sounded like it came from far away. His features blurred, as if she was underwater and he above. "Hey, are you all right? Sophia? Sophia!"

There was a reassuring smile in her somewhere, but Sophia didn't have the time to dig it up before she lost consciousness. _I think I might have overdone it…_

- - -

The first sensation Sophia felt when she came to was blissful _warmth_. Thick, heavy sheets covered her. To her right, another entity was generating more of the precious heat. She snuggled closer to it, not really thinking.

Something moved in the bed, then stilled. Sophia lay silent, enjoying. Her brain felt decidedly numb, and she was learning to like the feeling. Despite that, after a period of laying still her subconscious warned her she probably had to get moving. No loud noises or other unpleasant stimuli were telling her to wake up and get out of bed, but that didn't stop guilt from tugging at her senses. A shred of consciousness reminded her that she was still in the Vanguard situation and the sooner it was over, the better. Her eyes fluttered open reluctantly.

She must have made some sound of surprise, because her companion shot up and stared, eyes wide. Before Sophia had time to wonder what Meena was doing in her bed, the little girl had remedied it – by jumping up and away, conveniently depositing herself on the floor. Sophia heard her squeak.

Concerned, Sophia crawled over to the little girl and leaned over the side of the bed. Meena was sitting on the ground, rubbing her head. Sophia reached out to pick her up and put her back on the bed. If only the little girl wasn't so shy! She was observing Sophia in a manner that reminded her of a startled rabbit.

"I'm not that scary, am I?" Sophia asked kindly. She smiled before asking, "Did you hurt yourself?"

Meena ducked her head, blushing. Sophia held her fingers to the child's head, using a healing spell absent-mindedly. "Don't be shy. I was just a bit surprised. Didn't know I'd wake up with a bed partner." She winked.

Her response was a soft giggle. "It looked so cosy, and Fayt didn't say I couldn't…"

Sophia's eyes narrowed with amusement. "It _was _cosy." She sobered. "Where is Fayt?"

"Out hunting with Niklas and the other two. We're going to have a feast before we leave!"

Sophia's stomach rumbled in anticipation. She groaned. Rumbling stomachs were _not _attractive. "Any food around here?"

Meena jogged out of the room and came back with a few dried fruits, none of which looked familiar – or very appetising – to Sophia. Appetising or not, they were all scoffed down in a matter of minutes. She wiped her fingers off on her skirt. Grimacing at the dirty feel of it, she got her change of clothes from her backpack. Meena turned her head away as Sophia dressed. Fresh clothes did a lot to brighten her mood.

"When will Fayt come back?" Sophia asked a moment before the door opened. The sound of feet stamping met her ears, then a loud bang as the door closed. Sophia and Meena left the room to greet the newcomers. Sophia nearly suffered from heart failure when Fayt launched himself at her upon seeing her. She'd barely entered the hall before he grabbed her by the arms, turning her to examine her face closely.

"Are you all right? Can you remember everything? How's your vision?"

He peered closer. Sophia held her breath, light headed. If only she'd had the chance to brush her teeth before he went and invaded her breathing space. She breathed through her nose, let her amusement show in her face and tilted her head. He took the hint and let go, smiling sheepishly.

"Just checking."

"I'm fine."

She turned her attention to the two newcomers she hadn't met before after aiming a quick smile at Niklas. One of them was an old man, complete with wispy white hair and grizzly eyebrows. Despite that and a slight humpback, he seemed fit. She approached him and shook his hand. "Sophia," she said.

The man nodded, returning her handshake. "Tam."

Sophia moved on, looking at the other newcomer. This one was a boy somewhere in his late teens. He seemed like a twitchy guy, shifting his weight from foot to foot. She greeted him the same way as she had Tam.

He returned the handshake, eyes darting all over the place. "Tepeki."

She smiled. "Pleased to meet you."

Fayt and Niklas exchanged a glance. Tepeki saw it and shrugged one shoulder, looking unfazed by the exchange. "What?" Sophia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"They still distrust me because I was part of Norton's gang."

Niklas shook his head. "I do not doubt you. I merely compare this to your meeting with Fayt. It is a little less hostile, is it not?" A small smile formed on his lips.

Tepeki rolled his eyes. "I'm not complaining."

The next couple of hours were spent preparing the animal the men had caught. It was a strange, deer-like creature with white fur. Once Sophia got over her disgust of seeing an animal skinned, she helped prepare the meat. Fayt, Niklas and Meena busied themselves packing and getting a fire going.

Sophia wasn't unaccustomed to killing animals. There had been those strangely aggressive hedgehogs outside Airyglyph, and plenty of other enemies that looked like animals since then. To top it off, the deer had been dead before it was brought in. Still, something didn't sit right with her. It made her stomach churn. Despite the uneasiness, she finished her task and waited until all the meat was prepared and ready before pulling on her boots and going outside.

The cold hit her with a force that was almost painful. She walked away from the house calmly, ignoring it. Somehow, after the initial burst of cold, her hot forehead kept the chill at bay despite her not having a coat on.

Finding a tree sufficiently far off, she allowed herself to gag. She scooped up snow and cleaned blood of her arms with it, still retching painfully. It wasn't too long until the fruit Meena had given her came back up. Sophia's ears ached. Her stomach heaved again. The calmness she'd forced herself into while focussing on the task at hand was all but gone. Gutting an animal was _not _a pretty thing. The memory of her hands on moist, smooth animal parts had her coughing up bile.

While impossible noises had been coming from her throat, she hadn't been listening to her surroundings. Suddenly, she felt cool hands on her forehead. They stayed there a moment before moving to hold her hair back. Sophia felt a wave of gratitude. She'd been holding her hair back herself before, but her shuddering made it hard.

Now she wrapped her arms around her stomach and waited patiently as shudders and gags ruled her body. The bile had stopped coming.

She straightened slowly, physically miserable. Somehow, puking always gave her a horrible, weak feeling in her limbs. Her stomach felt like it had upended itself – which it probably had, when she thought about it.

Fayt held her steady. A part of her was dismayed that he saw her in such a state, but then, it was Fayt. They'd known each other for too long to let moments of weakness affect their opinion of each other.

"Better?" he asked simply. Sophia nodded. Now that the heat in her forehead had worn off, cold was seeping in and she was glad for Fayt's warmth at her back.

"I'm sorry. It's just… usually, it's so prettily packaged. You'd never guess where meat came from. Even on Elicoor everything was ready-made."

"Ssh."

They stood, silent, as Sophia's trembling subsided. It took longer than she would've liked. She stepped away gingerly when she had regained her composure, scooping up some clean snow and spitting it out before they walked back to the cottage. She couldn't _wait _to clean her teeth. When they re-entered the house, it was the first thing she did after letting everyone know she was all right.

Her nausea had subsided by dinnertime. She ate lightly, aware of Fayt's eyes on her. It was funny, in a way. Before, she was always the one who took care of him. Not that Fayt wouldn't have taken care of her before – it just happened that he was the one who always caught flu's and colds. Sophia vaguely remembered his parents didn't want him vaccinated against them.

"We're setting out tomorrow?" Tam asked when everyone was seated, warm and full, by the kitchen fire.

Fayt glanced at Sophia, who nodded. "Yeah," he replied, looking back at Tam. "I hope you have enough furs with you, because I've heard of what the cold does to the elderly – "

The playful grin told Sophia he was joking and that it wasn't the first time he had insulted the older man's age. Tam merely sighed and clutched his forehead. "If I had my stick, I'd smack you good. Youngsters these days."

If Sophia hadn't known better, she could've bet Fayt smirked. "Remember who's escorting you to your new home, grave escapee."

When the rest was done chuckling at Tam's response – a whole lot of indignant splutters and threats and not a lot of carrying them out – Sophia tried to make eye-contact with Fayt. Escorting them? If she was to use her power, it wouldn't be much of an escort. Maybe he thought she couldn't take it if there were so many people.

Once he saw her questioning look, Fayt excused himself. Sophia followed after a minute or two of hesitation.

He was sitting on a bed in one of the rooms. Sophia entered and leaned against the doorpost, folding her arms. "I can take us back, too. It's no problem."

Something in Fayt's expression changed before he smoothed it out again. It was the kind of reaction you got when you told someone something they'd known but hadn't wanted you to say, and Sophia's stomach twisted painfully in response. Somehow, his refusal to acknowledge their powers felt like he was rejecting her along with them. "Why are you so hell-bent on hating our genes?" Her voice was shakier than she would've liked.

Fayt picked up on it. Great; not only would he be mincing his words, he'd also think this was a purely emotional thing. "We don't know what kind of consequences using them has," he said carefully.

"We would if we let them check." 'Them' being their parents.

"And be their test subjects again?"

"That's what this is about, isn't it?"

Tension rose. It wasn't often that Fayt and Sophia disagreed, but when they did it usually ended with her in tears and him sullen as anything, until he got over it and tried to make it up to her. Sophia sighed. "Do you plan to resent them for the rest of your life?"

Fayt's fists clenched. "It's funny. If my dad was still alive, I'd hate him. But he died, and my mother… I don't know what to feel."

Sophia did something neither of them expected. She came forward to kneel on the edge of the bed, gripping Fayt in a hug. It was a strange gesture, especially when they both knew they'd been on the edge of having a fully-fledged argument moments before.

With her face safe over his shoulder, where she would not be able to see his, Sophia asked, "Aren't you grateful, in the end? If we didn't have these powers, we would've been sitting ducks, just waiting for the executioners to get rid of us."

Fayt drew back. Sophia's chagrin lessened when she realised he wasn't trying to shake her off. Instead, he still had his arms around her loosely. "I think what bothers me is that our parents could keep it a secret from us for so long. Doesn't that bother you?"

She considered. "I'm not sure. Would you have liked to grow up knowing you were different?"

He sighed. "I get your point."

"There was no ideal situation."

They were silent for a while. The kneeling was starting to get uncomfortable, and for a long moment Sophia was tempted to just give in and climb into Fayt's lap. She resisted only by thinking of how inappropriate it would look, especially if one of the Vanguardians came to check up on them.

"Since when are you so forgiving?" Fayt asked grumpily, interrupting her thoughts. "All I did to earn your everlasting resentment was spend a day in the battle simulator, but since then plenty of people have mistreated you and you don't even chastise them. Who's been preaching to you? I knew something was up when I caught you and Milenya inventing together. It never didmake sense to me that you'd be pouring your heart and soul into compounding."

She laughed. "I was learning!"

Fayt put on a deep voice, trying to imitate the holy woman. "'Grudges can be as poison. Forgiving thy enemies is the first step on a noble mission. Forget about forgiving thy friend, Fayt Leingod, though…'"

"_Very _overdone," Sophia told him in a praiseworthy effort not to laugh.

"You mean I wouldn't make a good pilgrim, spreading the words of Apris? Preaching to those in need?"

"I'm afraid you'd convince a lot of people to become atheists."

"My life's work is ruined."

Sophia smiled. He may have said that, but things hadn't felt this right for a long time.

---

Their second journey from Whipple to the Vendeeni base was less eventful. They didn't happen upon any strange, venomous arachnids and they didn't waste any time trying to look for caves big enough to accommodate everyone – they knew there weren't any. Instead they camped in a tent, each one of them hoping they wouldn't be the one lying under the leaky part of it. Sophia was rather amused to be sharing a make-do bed with Fayt and two Vanguardian children. The funniest thing, however, was listening to Tam and Tepeki's nightly discussions and whispered threats as they lay next to each other. Things along the lines of:

"Put your foot there one more time and I'm chopping it off."

"A youngster in my day would've been less keen on snatching blankets from a poor old man!"

"Breathe through your nose, man, your breath would knock out anything with a sense of smell."

Needless to say, it wasn't unusual for any of the others to wake up with sore stomachs from repressing laughter throughout the night.

The journey was over in no time. Soon the party found themselves walking down slushy streets towards Julian's mansion. It was only a matter of time until the Vanguardians had a cottage to stay in – with enough beds to make sure Tam and Tepeki need never share one again – and they were being reunited with all the folk from Whipple. They'd arrived at the end of the day and all the workers were coming home – except the ones with night shift.

"Well, we couldn't have come here without the help of Lord Fayt and Lady Sophia," Sophia heard Niklas say. The boy sounded very proud. She exchanged a glance with Fayt.

"Lord? Lady?" Her lips twitched.

Fayt shrugged helplessly. "We came, we saw, we conquered."

Someone crept up from behind them, slinging his arms around the pair. "Conquered? Not quite. You merely acquired all the loyalty my subjects have been unwilling to give to me."

Two pairs of brows rose as Sophia and Fayt turned to look at the man holding them. Julian was unperturbed. "Ah, alas, and woe is me! For I am the one with the crown, but nothing without my loyal subjects!"

"You had none in the first place," Fayt pointed out sardonically.

Julian flapped his hand in a dismissive motion. "Leave me in my delusions, please." He turned his head to look at Sophia. "Are you sure you want to stay with this guy? I may have no more easy bargaining materials like villagers, but I have this fetching suit of armour in my study…" He trailed off. "No, wait. I _used _to have a fetching suit of armour in my study."

Sophia allowed herself a wry grin. Fayt had banished said 'fetching suit of armour' the last time they were in that study. Was Julian trying to get on his nerves again?

Julian's head turned back to Fayt, as if he'd just had some sort of revelation. "You owe me a suit of armour! I decline in its absence."

"Would you mind declining somewhere else?" Fayt removed Julian's arm from his shoulder.

"He is nothing if not cruel and unsympathetic," Julian told Sophia. "Are you _really _sure you don't want to stay with me? He owes me. You're not as shiny, but you'll do."

Sophia followed Fayt's example in removing Julian's arm from its perch. "_You _are nothing if not provocative and a troublemaker." She poked his chest. "I hope the villagers lead a rebellion against you when the Vendeeni are gone."

Julian pretended to stagger under her fury. "The two of you may have each other – cruel and unsympathetic, the both of you, even the one that looks soft."

With that, he grinned and walked back into the mansion, waving dismissively and leaving Fayt and Sophia to stare after him before going back to observing Whipple's reunion. It seemed Niklas was done with his tale.

A warm weight attached itself to Sophia's leg. She looked down to find Meena clinging to her, hands clutching at her skirt. "Hey there," Sophia greeted softly, bending down to pick the girl up. She found the Vanguardian fit comfortably on her hip if she jutted it out a bit, as she had seen mothers doing to carry their children. Meena leaned against her.

Sophia wrapped both arms around the child, strangely touched. Somehow, the thought that she'd be leaving soon made her chest ache a little. Standing in the cold hugging Meena close to her, she realised she'd become attached to the little girl. It had been so easy to fall into a family role of – what? Mother? Older sister? Aunt? The fact that Meena had no relatives made it easy for Sophia to take those roles upon herself. Now it felt like she was abandoning her newfound family.

_Stop being silly_, Sophia told herself. _You knew this was only temporary from the start._

_Still_, another part of her argued. _You can go back to Vanguard III whenever you want to, but what about Meena? What if she needs someone?_

_Stop it._

"Sophia?" Fayt asked. Sophia realised she was scowling into Meena's hair. She looked up. "She sleepy?"

Sophia smiled. "I think she's snoozing already. Should we put her and Niklas to bed?"

Fayt fetched Niklas and they took the two Vanguardians to their new home. Sophia removed Meena's outside clothes before laying her in bed, while Niklas stood beside the bed and observed Fayt and Sophia solemnly. Somehow, it made Sophia's stomach clench.

"You're leaving again, aren't you?" he asked. His voice was neutral, not revealing any emotion. Sophia had heard people ask what time of day it was with more passion.

Still, it felt like some strange Vanguardian creature had crept down her gullet to her guts and was nibbling at them from the inside. Her chest ached. She could probably name what the creature was, and it wasn't Vanguardian: it was guilt, pure and simple. She had started asking questions too late, questions Fayt had probably been plaguing himself with all the time. Was this all right? Was their interference merely a generous act of selfishness?

When neither Fayt nor Sophia answered, Niklas added, "Just like last time."

Fayt sighed. "We can't stay here forever. You know we're not from here."

"I understand," Niklas replied before motioning to his slumbering sister. "She won't."

Sophia leaned down in response, drawing Meena's hair away from her face tenderly. She felt silly. She'd only known the girl for a week at most. Still, did time matter when emotions got involved?

"She'll expect you to come back."

Fayt sighed. In truth, he hadn't been very thorough when planning the mission. He hadn't counted on all of them coming to care for each other in the manner they had. Last time, saying goodbye had seemed completely logical and necessary. Now, saying goodbye seemed an uncertain matter.

"We might come back. Who knows what time will tell?" He was afraid to commit himself. What if he couldn't keep to it?

Niklas sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed, resentment finally creeping into his voice when he said, "You will only leave again."

"People come and go. The fact that they go doesn't override the fact that they were there. Hey, we were only here for a week and changed your whole government; who knows what damage we'd do if we stayed?"

"I want you to come back." Niklas was pulling his boots off, and his statement was mumbled, as if he was ashamed to admit it. "But you say you 'might'. That does not sound very certain."

Fayt shifted, and his scabbard bumping into his leg made him aware of the sword he was still carrying around. He unsheathed it. "This is quite a good sword," he told Niklas. It was the Holy Sword. He'd found it in the Aquatic Gardens of Surferio in what seemed like a lifetime ago. While it wasn't the best blade he'd ever used, he was attached to it. Bringing his best sword to Vanguard III hadn't seemed necessary. "Not the best one I've ever used, but I like it."

Niklas and Sophia watched. The latter had a look of puzzlement on her face, the former one of anticipation. Fayt flipped the blade over, offering it to Niklas hilt-first.

"Here, you keep it until I come back."

Niklas took the weapon, looking surprised. "I will look after it well, until you reclaim it."

Fayt grinned. "Didn't expect any less from you. The last time you took my sword, I got it back all right."

The Vanguardian had the grace to look embarrassed. "This time you give it willingly."

Fayt nodded. "It's a promise to come back."

Niklas nodded solemnly, placing the item carefully on the desk before getting into bed next to his sister. "And you don't break promises. I apologise for doubting you." His eyes were drooping. In the silence that followed his apology, the boy fell asleep.

"He doubted me?" Fayt asked suddenly. Sophia grinned.

"Oh come on, not everyone can worship you and trust you without question."

Fayt grumbled. Sophia grabbed her backpack and sifted through it, finally finding a small cat plushie somewhere at the bottom. She used to attach the toy to her staff and had taken to carrying it around with her wherever she went. Its twin lay at home on the kitchen counter. She'd always felt like having one of the cats with her and one at home made her home seem closer.

Friends were more important than her apartment though. Besides, she wasn't quite sure her current residence felt like home. She slid the cat plushie into Meena's hands without further hesitation.

"We _will_ come back, right?" she asked Fayt. He nodded.

"If you want to."

"What about you?"

"I'll come back regardless." Fayt shrugged, smiling sheepishly. "I did promise."

Sophia nodded. Though she hadn't promised anything aloud, she'd made a promise to herself. "Should we check with the Vendeeni before leaving?"

"Probably."

They went about doing so. It was hard to tell one Vendeeni from another, but they found the leader without too much trouble. He was pacing one of the back halls of Julian's mansion restlessly.

"Yes?" he asked when he saw the two approach.

"We're leaving."

The Vendeeni snorted. "Earthlings. Strange. I thought most creatures were ruled by logic, even humanoid life forms."

"What do you mean?" Sophia asked, frowning.

"You will excuse me if I fail to see what personal gain this venture has gifted you with."

Fayt put a hand on his hip. "We helped out friends. Isn't that enough?"

Another snort. "Do not try to lecture me on the ways of humans. I know what they do; I merely can't understand why they would do so. Helping out people you barely know who have nothing to give in return – it is not necessary for survival. Perhaps you would do well to learn something from the Vendeeni."

Sophia didn't feel anything other than pity when she observed the Vendeeni leader. "You don't feel anything when you help someone? You don't feel better?"

He didn't bother replying, which was enough of an answer. "I can't wait until you're both gone," he said instead.

"We'll be keeping an eye on you," Fayt told him. "One step out of line and the Federation will be on your back."

The Vendeeni flapped his hand dismissively. "Yes, yes. Spare me the threats. I wonder when you'll get tired of watching."

"It'll take longer for me to grow tired of it than it will for you to get out of here," Fayt remarked cheerfully. "Now, speaking of getting out of here, we really should get going. Treat them right, remember."

The Vendeeni leader didn't reply, but then, he didn't have to. He'd lost fair and square and not even pride got in the way of survival. Fayt and Sophia made their way out of the mansion, the latter nervously wiping her palms on her skirt. The tingling at the back of her neck was making it hard not to twitch and roll her shoulders constantly. She'd be glad when they were out of Vendeeni territory.

Night had fallen in a matter of minutes. Sophia could see the shadows outside, despite the snow's bright surface.

"Want to say goodbye to Julian?" Fayt asked suddenly, halting before exiting the mansion.

Sophia shook her head. "He said goodbye earlier. In his own special way." She allowed herself a wry smile. "Besides, it might be risking a bit much. Are you sure you can stop yourself from strangling him if he makes another of his comments?"

Fayt didn't bother to reply. Instead, he pulled his communicator from his trouser pocket – the thing was battered, but it worked again – and rang up Cliff. Sophia could hardly hear their conversation over the crunching sound of boots treading on snow. Fayt flipped his communicator closed as they exited the Vendeeni town. "They'll be ready to transport us up in about ten minutes."

Sophia looked up at the clear sky, stars bright among the darkness. "Did they just stay up there and wait for us to finish?"

Fayt shrugged. "I'm sure Cliff would like us to think so. That man is trying to get a lifetime of debts on me, I swear."

Sophia glanced at him, eyebrows raised. He must've been able to see her expression from the reflected light, because he answered, "I owe him my life at least thrice over, a couple of ferries, one or two pieces of good advice and all he got in return were a few beers. I dread the day it's payback time."

She laughed. "You honestly think he's counting?"

"I think he knows me well enough to know _I'm_ counting. That's what worries me."

Another laugh. Sophia was a bit surprised at herself. Somehow, her memory had chosen to pick out all the horrid situations of unrequited love to remember, instead of all the times she'd been able to just talk and laugh with Fayt. She'd nearly forgotten what it was like. Inwardly, she scoffed. She was coming to a conclusion she'd been trying to delay for as long as possible. _Face it, Sophia_, she thought, finally allowing herself this small matter of self-deprecating truth. _You've been overreacting._

She sighed heavily. _Another feat of melodrama_, she thought, before batting away the part of her that served only to deprecate her. She stopped looking up, suddenly annoyed with the calm sky.Fayt glanced at her in askance.

"Nothing," she told him. "Just sighing."

"Sorry to leave?"

"A bit. Though I am looking forward to proper showers and baths."

Fayt closed his eyes, as if he could already feel the bliss of properly heated water instead of the by now familiar melted snow, hastily warmed up with a few tame firebolts. Sophia couldn't blame him. She was hard put not to drool at the thought of an actual bathtub. Unwillingly, she found herself hoping beyond hope that the Falcon had some kind of bubble bath on board.

They spent the next few minutes waiting, listing all the benefits of the modern world they'd missed dearly. It amounted to a list almost longer than their stay had been, though 'freezer' wasn't on it. Both of them were acutely aware of the biting cold. When they started to really worry about limbs freezing off, Fayt's communicator let out a series of beeps. He held it to his ear, fingers strangely blue.

"Not a moment too soon," he said breathlessly. Sophia mimicked his shivering. Fayt glared. "Yeah, we're ready any time," he told Cliff.

The communicator was stowed away. "All right, take one last look to remind you never to come here during Vanguardian winter again."

Sophia smiled, complying. She'd been surrounded by all the ice and snow for a while by then, but the setting struck her now that she was about to leave. The reflected light from the moon and stars illuminated the world around them from the ground. It was peculiar, the light coming from below. The town looked very cosy from a distance, with its blanket of snow and a few lit windows. She looked back at Fayt and saw him smiling, the rather harsh light of teleportation settling around him a moment before she felt it settle around her. A familiar lurch, then well-known metallic sounds.

"Welcome back," Mirage told them, a smile on her lips. "Did you have a nice trip?"

Somehow, that question seemed to summarise the whole ordeal.


	6. The Red Carpet

Title: To Claim and Reclaim

A/N: Happy new year, everyone! In this chapter I've used a bit of the actual in-game script, which I haven't done before. Because it was a PA it wasn't in the game script FAQ on gameFAQs so I sat down and penned the scene into my notebook. (Anyone want the typed-out dialogue?)

Disclaimer: Assuming the disclaimer in the previous five chapters was somehow overlooked, I shall say it again: I don't own Star Ocean Till the End of Time.

* * *

**  
The Red Carpet**

"Hey, look at this!" Fayt juggled the bags he was holding to motion at a brightly coloured poster. Sophia stopped, turning around to inspect it.

_Pick up your weapons_, it read. Pictures of meteors and sparks adorned it. _Have you been aching to try out your skills outside a battle simulator? Are you ready to face reality with a sword in your hand? Then you're ready for the Ultimate Clash! An epic tournament, the likes of which has never been seen before. Players will conquer the strongest of opponents in a battle against each other. Only one team can be the best. Will it be yours?_

That was as far as promotion went. Sophia glanced at the rest of the advertisement: a list of rules and ways of contacting the people in charge. The thing seemed rather tacky. She glanced at Fayt. "You want to enter?"

He grinned. "Who wouldn't?"

"Anyone who doesn't feel like embarrassing himself in an intergalactic broadcast. Why do you want to enter?"

They started moving again. "Well, it's not like I have anything important to do until university starts again. Besides, we never got any credit for saving the universe. Don't you want a little recognition?"

"You –" Sophia bit her lip. She'd been on the verge of saying something that was childish and mean. _You just want people to know that you can surpass your father. _Whenever Fayt talked about things like recognition, she had the feeling he was talking to Robert instead of her. It wasn't a nice feeling.

"I guess it would make the training worthwhile," she said instead. "We didn't get a lot of action on Vanguard III. Still, doesn't it seem like a bit much? Imagine how many people are entering. I don't think we could win without help from the rest. Adray, Nel and Albel aren't allowed to come to Earth. Cliff, Mirage and Maria are needed at Quark and Peppita's still touring with the circus. A team of two doesn't stand a chance." She frowned. "Does it?"

Fayt frowned, absently moving the grocery bags from his left hand to his right. "I think you're underestimating the things we've been through. Sure, there will be teams of eight full of people who train day and night in a battle simulator, but we have something they'll probably never have: real-life experience. You learn faster when your life's on the line. Besides, who said we'd enter to win?"

Sophia smiled wryly. "Who said we'd enter at all?"

"Please? I'll go shopping with you!"

She grinned. "Aren't you shopping with me now?"

"It's groceries. That's tolerable. I mean the kind of shopping that no man would willingly subject himself to."

"Lingerie shopping?"

"Sophia!" Her delight tripled when his face turned red. "_Clothes_ shopping. And I'll treat you to ice cream."

Her teasing had gotten him to make an offer she couldn't resist. Still, she had to check. "And we won't spend half the time in a game shop?"

"We won't spend any time in a game shop."

Sophia sighed. "I give in. Fine, I'll enter with you. It's not like it'll make much of a difference to have me there."

Fayt shook his head. "It'll make all the difference."

- - -

Sophia dropped onto the couch, exhausted. She arranged her body to take up as much deliciously soft space as she could. It was her couch and it had better know by now. With her head resting on a pillow, she was perfectly happy to just lie and observe her surroundings.

Her apartment had changed since her trip to Vanguard III. Sophia had been back for almost two weeks, and it seemed like she'd stepped into a different dimension once again – in a good way that didn't relate to Time Gates and annihilation. Somehow, the bland, predictable life she had been living since her sojourn in 4D space had disintegrated. When she and Fayt returned from Vanguard, he hadn't let her disappear like she'd done last time. He kept coming over, always finding some new, obscure reason to be at her apartment. He'd stopped making excuses as to why he was visiting every day after a week of it – now it would be more fitting if he had excuses for the days he _didn't _come over.

A blanket lay half on the table, half on the floor, covering an upended game board and its respective pieces. That was the only non-electronic game in the room, and it was outdone by all the video games Fayt had lent her. They varied from simple console-based games to headsets that followed the battle simulator idea, except that no movement was required. Sophia still couldn't quite get used to them.

In fact, she couldn't get used to the whole gaming idea. True, she had developed a liking for battle simulators and she admitted games weren't _that_ bad a pastime – they delivered more adrenaline than cooking or cleaning, certainly – but they weren't something Sophia could see herself spending a lot of time on. It was nice to kick back and sew, and furthermore, a hobby like gaming didn't get the house cleaned up.

She sighed, moving to lie on her back, hands propped behind her head. The battle simulator was a different story. Earlier that day, she and Fayt had visited the arcade to enter their names for the Ultimate Clash competition. It seemed like a waste of time, but as Fayt had said before: it wasn't like there was much else to do. Most students had part or fulltime jobs, but the restaurant Sophia worked at had gone bankrupt a few weeks ago and she hadn't the heart to find a new one yet.

_Assuming the lady at the front desk wasn't lying, we might get some money from the contest – if we get anywhere near winning._ Sophia considered. The entrants could well be a load of pasty-skinned teenagers that thought outside air was unhealthy, but they were pasty-skinned teenagers that spent a _lot _of time in the battle simulator. Also, the rules stated eight was the maximum amount of team members. Sophia and Fayt would be greatly outnumbered most of the time.

_It'll be fun_, she told herself. Who was she kidding? Whenever she was near Fayt it was all she could do to just savour the moment and hope he wouldn't change away from her like last time. She didn't think she could handle it if she found out she'd been left behind again. Still, Fayt's behaviour towards her had been nothing if not completely dedicated since they were reunited.

_It won't hurt to trust him,_ she thought to herself.

_I hope._

Sophia groaned. _This isn't getting me anywhere._

She got up, deciding that lying around only served to drive her insane with worry and other irksome emotions. The tournament would be starting in a week's time. Perhaps it was time to start preparing.

Pledging not to spend any more time fretting over things she couldn't change anyway, Sophia moved through her apartment, intent on finding her sewing kit and measuring lengths. If she was going to make a fool out of herself, at least she'd do so with style. The outfit she wore on the adventure two years ago was still intact, but it was too tight in some places and too loose in others. Worse, the amount of physical exertion she'd suffered during that trip meant that an unpleasant smell had fixed itself into the fabric, a sharp scent no amount of washing could really get out of it.

Sophia was nothing if not thorough when it came to personal hygiene.

So she'd fashion herself a new battle costume with the same colours and fabrics, but more to size and without the acrid scent. It just wouldn't feel right to charge into battle without her uniform on.

She tilted her head to the side while measuring herself, thinking. Fayt's figure hadn't changed drastically since their sojourn on Elicoor II, but Sophia was sure he could do with new battle gear, too.

She'd have to ask him about it before the tournament started. Her mouth curved into a smile at the thought. He hated it when she fussed over him.

- - -

The sun blazed overhead. A quiet breeze could be felt outside the arena, but it had lacked the power to climb over the stadium walls. Spectators sat with fans flapping in a vain attempt to stay cool, straw sunhats snug on their sweaty heads. The crowd was comprised of one half contestants and one half bored holiday goers. The elevated platform the fights would take place on was currently unoccupied while holographic advertisements formed in the sky above it.

Sophia stopped peeking around the corner of the backstage room, turning back to face Fayt. Clearly, these preliminary matches weren't very important. Still, it was beyond her to retain the calm aura her companion was exuding. "I'm nervous," she admitted to him.

"Don't be. The preliminaries are a joke." Fayt was leaning against the wall, hands in his pockets.

His clothes weren't very different from the ones he wore two years ago. There was less leg armour and the shirt he wore was new, but its design was exactly like the old one. Sophia couldn't stop herself from feeling accomplished when she observed how well it fit him: she was the proud creator of it.

The remake of her old costume wasn't bad either. There were no actual adjustments; she hadn't had a lot of surplus armour on her. The only difference was the fit, which was slightly more comfortable than her previous outfit's. That and the fact that it was too hot to have the pink bolero on over her dress. It was lying somewhere in the dressing room while her arms remained blissfully bare. Sophia admired Fayt's resolve in wearing both his gloves and his arm warmer.

"Still," Sophia replied, wiping her forehead. "Making us go first is mean."

Fayt shrugged. "It's not that bad. These will only be broadcast on obscure channels that no one watches. If we had to go first in the real tournament I might feel a little hard done to."

Much as she loved Fayt, Sophia had to admit he wasn't the very best in the world when it came to calming a girl's nerves. While objective thinking was all right in its own time, when sweat was beading on your forehead it wasn't very comforting to be reminded your coming performance would 'only' be broadcast on a few unpopular channels.

_I thought Cliff would teach him how to be smooth_, Sophia thought regretfully.A small 'you look great' or 'I'm sure you'll do well' would've helped her a lot more than the calm reassurance that only people who liked to watch unintelligible programs about new bacteria and small subcultures no one knew about would be watching her every move.

"Hey," Fayt said, lifting her hand with both of his. "You'll do fine."

Her astonishment nearly swept her off her feet. _Thank you, Cliff_, she thought, laughing inwardly. The initial surprise didn't leave her as he continued to hold her hand, only letting go when the commentator's voice blared from the speakers.

"Hello, I'm Dirna Hamilton and I'll be your host throughout the tournament. With me is a guy you – actually, you probably don't know him."

"Hi, I'm Solon Solute. I'll be providing commentary today."

Fayt and Sophia stood motionless, stunned. _What?! _Sophia was having trouble breathing. In the battle arena of 4D space, she'd grown used to hearing Dirna and Solon's voices. Their introduction was ingrained in her brain because of the amount of times they'd repeated it two years ago.

But this _wasn't _4D space. It was a stupid tournament with a tacky name and an unusually high amount of publicity, right in the middle of the Eternal Sphere. 4D beings weren't unfamiliar with tacky names or tournaments, but they weren't often prone to trifling with something that many people in the Eternal Sphere were going to witness – at least, Sophia had assumed they weren't.

"What are they doing here?" Fayt hissed, echoing Sophia's thoughts.

"I thought Blair was going to help us become independent," she said, feeling strangely betrayed.

"I don't like it," Fayt confessed. "Now I'm really glad we entered. If they're interfering, I want to know about it."

Sophia nodded. "Will they recognise us, do you think?"

"After the beating we gave them? I doubt they'd be able to forget." A smug look settled across his features before dissipating. "Still, it might not be them."

One of Sophia's eyebrows arched. "I bet each dimension is _swarming _with people called Dirna Hamilton and Solon Solute. It's not at all suspicious that they have the same voice and haven't changed their introduction much."

Fayt shrugged. "You never know."

Solon and Dirna had finished the rest pf their introduction. "Now, for our first battle, we have Fayt and Sophia. Come on out, we're waiting!"

Fayt and Sophia stepped out of the little backstage room and into the blazing sunlight. Sophia was glad she'd left her bolero in the dressing room as she felt the heat beat down on her. It almost hurt. Still, it was good to be out in the open air and ready for battle.

Once they'd reached the stage, Fayt and Sophia took up their battle stances.

No exclamations of surprise from the commentators greeted them. Sophia didn't know whether that was a good thing. Surely Solon and Dirna recognised her and Fayt? Had they been told not to act familiar?

A flash of light was all the warning she had that the time for thought was over.

_Talk about sloppy commentary. They didn't even say the match was beginning!_

Three dragons stormed at her and Fayt. Sunlight flashed off their scales and Sophia could hear the spectators exclaim. She scoffed. "Even I can handle this."

"Side kick!" Sophia drew an arrow across her staff to shoot at the dragon trying to smash into Fayt while he was busy with the two others. It was sucked into his next attack. "Dimension door!"

"Explosion!" Sophia shouted. She wasn't going to be outdone. Battle giddiness seeped through her. She could remember a time when fighting made her whole body tremble and sweat break out over her skin. Fighting alongside Fayt had erased that fear and substituted it with adrenaline whenever she fought.

Sadly, the dragons were roast already. Literally. A rather appetising smell of meat filled the air.

Sophia didn't bother to hide her disappointment. "That was rather…"

"Easy," Fayt finished.

"What a glorious victory for the challengers!" Dirna crowed. She and Solon settled into discussion, neither of them imparting much wisdom. The dragon corpses disappeared as they talked.

Sophia shut their voices out. "Are the monsters supposed to be this easy? I can't imagine a team of eight would find this small a challenge amusing."

"If they're anything like the dragons in Bequerel Mine and the Mountains of Barr, they're pretty good at paralysis and petrification." He thought for a moment. "Well, I guess they're using weak monsters to pick out complete amateurs. It'll build up."

Sure enough, another flash of light graced the arrival of another eight dragons. "What did the petrifying attack look like?" Sophia asked Fayt over the noise of screeching dragons. She ran to get out of being overwhelmed in short range combat.

"When a dragon starts spewing a dust cloud, get away from there. Don't try to complete your attack; just run." Fayt narrowly avoided one dragon's tail as it lashed at him. He cut the beast as he jumped over it.

Sophia loved watching Fayt fight. It filled her with energy. He fought without reservation, sometimes to the point of carelessness. Still, he could afford carelessness with all the healing spells itching to get out of Sophia's fingertips.

He didn't need her yet, though there were seven dragons swarming around him. The eighth was stalking her, interrupting whenever she tried to cast a spell. Tired of interruptions, she whacked it with her staff before impaling it with earth glaive. She summoned Efreet to finish the thing off, damaging another dragon in the process.

Sophia whirled to watch Fayt. He seemed to be having a good time, caught in a dance of sidestepping and attacking. "Buff me up?" he shouted when he noticed her looking.

"You want all the fun, don't you?" She grinned, casting power up and protection on Fayt.

The dragon's numbers had been halved. One turned its attention on Sophia, swiping at her ineffectually. Only homing attacks were likely to hit her when she wasn't busy casting, especially when the ground was level. No unfortunate stumble would bring her down to be trounced. The stage was flat and even.

She whacked the dragon following her, springing back in a sidestep afterwards. Suddenly she was staring up at the sky.

_What…?_

Her breath hitched. Bright, blinding sky. Warm sun on her face. Dragon about to trample her.

She thrust her staff up, hoping to block the worst of its attacks. The adrenaline she'd been feeling a moment ago thrummed in her veins, but fear overruled it. Sweat broke out over her body. With her heart pounding in her stomach, all Sophia could do was wonder what she had stumbled over. There was nothing on the stage but her, Fayt and the dragons.

The sky was blocked out abruptly and all Sophia could see was her enemy's head, the impression of dark green scales gradually fading into a more terrifying image of sharp fangs. The horrid head jerked away at Fayt's shout. "Side kick!"

Suddenly she was off the ground. A cheer rose from the crowd. Belatedly, she realised Fayt had scooped her off the ground after interrupting the dragon's attack and was running away from it with her in his arms.

"Everything all right, my princess?"

Sophia nearly choked. The change in circumstances was welcome, if unexpected. Being carried by Fayt beat being torn to pieces by a dragon hands down.

Tempting though it was to remain in Fayt's arms, there were still three dragons running after them. "Thanks," she told him before squirming out of his hold. "I don't know why I tripped."

Fayt motioned at the stage. Sophia's eyes widened. A simulation of rough terrain covered the surface, plenty of grooves and ridges grafted in it for a person to stumble over.

"Ah," she said. "That makes sense."

Fayt smiled before turning back to the fight. Sophia shot another arrow off her staff, aiming at the dragon that had come perilously close to hurting her. Her arms were shaking. It was amazing the arrow actually hit home, and even more amazing that she could cast explosion right after it. She watched as Fayt finished the dragons off with dimension door.

"Did you see that save near the end?" Dirna asked her partner, sounding impressed.

"Amazing teamwork, I'll give them that. Quantity is by no means the way to go. One plus one can be ten, as I always say," Solon answered. "Still, they have one more match to go before they're done with the preliminaries. And the last match is the hardest. If the contestants are holding something back, it's time for them to throw it into the fight."

The dragon corpses disappeared again, along with the rough terrain. Sophia watched Fayt roll his shoulders. Had she been too heavy for him? She blushed and looked away.

_Don't blush! _she thought frantically. _People might be watching._

The thought reminded her that her clumsy fall would have been recorded too, which did nothing to stop her blushing. _Are mum and dad watching?_ she wondered. She hadn't told them anything about participating in the tournament, but the fliers and commercials had been all over the place. What if it had perked their interest?

_Don't be silly. They'll be at work._

Fayt tilted his head, observing the stage. "I wonder what they'll throw at us next. That last one should have been easy, but the amount of monsters and the sudden change in terrain made it hard. Solon said the next one'll be harder."

Sophia rubbed her left shoulder. She hadn't noticed it hurt before, but in hindsight she could remember landing on it. Her whole left arm wasn't feeling all that great, now that she had time to dwell on it. "Solon always says that."

"Still, he should know." Fayt noticed the bruise on her shoulder. A bluish ball of light formed in his hand. "Healing!"

The pain on her left side eased. "Thanks," she told him. She didn't have the time to say anything else. The stage was transforming into a mass of what seemed like volcanic rock, the ground very uneven. Sophia watched as what she could only assume was lava filled the dips between rocks, soon forming pools anyone would be a fool to land in.

Three magma men spawned from the lava pools. Sophia groaned. Casting explosion might not be a good idea. She'd never used it on fire elementals before, but she doubted it would be the right spell for them.

Going with the obvious, she cast deep freeze. It didn't do much to the massive amount of health the magma men had. "Fayt?" she called, hopping from a ledge to lower ground. Which idiot had thought of changing the stage so drastically? Half Sophia's energy was being used just manoeuvring around the battle field.

"What is it?" He was in midair, releasing the second blow of dimension door.

"Doesn't ice blade kill these faster?" she panted, climbing up another ledge.

"I can't at the moment." He was equally breathless. Sophia stood tall on an outcropping, a little above the battle field.

"Thunder flare!" Sophia shouted, channelling power. The magma men should have known better than to stand so close together. "Change your set up now," she commanded Fayt through gritted teeth.

He complied. "Ice blade!"

Three swings of said blade were all it took to destroy the magma men. Sophia sighed, relieved. They were through. She jumped from the rock she was standing on.

"We did it!" her blue-haired friend exclaimed. Fayt's grin when he turned to look at her was wild and happy. Euphoria and butterflies mixed in Sophia's stomach. _Oof._

The stage turned back to normal. Sophia joined Fayt in the middle of it, waiting for a dismissal from Dirna and Solon. A part of her wanted to skip and jump around while the other longed for a shower. The rather hot battle field of the last match hadn't been very accommodating for someone who didn't want to break a sweat.

"An exciting beginning for the tournament, wouldn't you say Solon?"

"I predict we'll be seeing a lot more from this pair. A very good performance, especially when you take into consideration that they didn't know of the terrain changes in advance."

"Learned the hard way," Sophia mumbled under cover of Dirna's reply.

Fayt's ecstatic look faded into one of concern. "You're okay though, aren't you?"

She nodded. "Mm. Thanks to you." Her pride, though…

The crowd's outburst of applause brought an end to their conversation. Sophia waved at the spectators self-consciously before edging towards the backstage room. Fayt followed after a moment.

They'd just made it past the little red curtain that separated the room from the arena when they were jumped by what Sophia could only assume was a journalist. The blond women nearly ran into them in her enthusiasm.

"Hi there!" she greeted. "I'm Martha. No need to introduce yourself; I saw you out there. _Amazing _performance. Have you done this before?"

Amazing performance, as if they'd been artists performing and act. "What, fight or participate in a tournament?" Fayt asked, recovering fast. He seemed annoyed.

"The tournament, of course! What drove you to enter?"

"Boredom," he replied. "I don't want to be rude, but could you please leave us? I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to be here, and we need to get changed."

Behind a plastered smile, the woman looked disappointed, as if a great plan had been foiled. "Ah, please don't let me interrupt you," she said, though her next words belied that as she focused on Sophia. "And what about you? You don't look like someone that would enjoy fighting. What compelled you to start?"

Sophia was trying to think of a polite way to shake the journalist off when Fayt grabbed her arm and dragged her into the dressing room. She threw him a questioning look as he closed the door. "What was that about? I won't spill anything about our journey, if that's what you're worried about."

"It's not."

One day he would elaborate and she would have no idea what he was talking about. It had happened before with Fayt. His short term memory wasn't always in the right place at the right time, but he never seemed to forget stuff in the long run.

The journalist's voice rang in Sophia's mind. _What compelled you to start? _

Well, that was something she wouldn't forget, even if her long term memory wasn't as good as Fayt's. Sophia's recollection of the time that convinced her to fight and got rid of her helpless fear of physical pain was clear in her mind. Reminiscence of that period flooded her mind.

_When did it start?_

It started on top of the Kirlsa Training Facility. Sophia was standing with her heart in her throat. The Vendeeni had assured her that they would capture Fayt. They had also admitted – gleefully – that they had no intention of relinquishing her or Robert.

Bait. She was bait.

Things commenced, and she watched as Cliff put his life at risk to save her and the others. He'd been a complete stranger at the time. Sophia couldn't understand why he'd endanger himself like that. Another mystery was Fayt's lack of hesitation as he let what seemed like a friend sacrifice himself. Then, she'd thought it incomprehensible, even though she'd learned it was a matter of trust and not selfishness later.

It was hard for her. She was very much in the 'damsel in distress' scenario that many old novels told about, but she wasn't enjoying it. Everyone was fighting. She couldn't do anything. All she did was watch in a state of panic, hoping beyond hope that everyone would be all right. The second visit to the Training Facility's Arena did nothing to comfort her. Instead she watched as yet another total stranger got hurt.

Fast-forward to an hour or so later, on board the Diplo. She and Maria were alone in the cafeteria. Sophia hated to admit it, but she felt a little afraid of the stern captain, despite Maria's efforts to be kind to her. The older woman was trying to welcome Sophia personally, though it was obvious she wasn't very comfortable doing so.

"Please," Sophia said suddenly, after Maria's assurance she'd be brought home as soon as they could afford the trip. "Let me come with you. I can use symbology. I'll learn how to fight. If I was at home all I'd do is worry. I can't sit back and knit hats while all of you are risking your lives."

Maria's hesitation was marked. She wasn't the kind that put blind faith in an amateur. Still, it seemed the captain felt some sort of obligation when it came to Sophia.

"I guess – I guess you might be safer with us than anywhere else. Robert did mention you, too, when he said we had to go to Moonbase."

Moonbase. Convincing Maria to let her come had all been very well, but learning how to fight by being thrust into battle haphazardly was like trying to learn how to drive a pod with no instruction whatsoever. All the gears were there, but you had no idea how to use them. You didn't even know how to start the engine.

In the heat of battle, no one noticed her struggles. Rather, no one noticed the lack of them.

It was Peppita who put a change to Sophia's helpless observance. The young girl's recklessness inspired her. The petite dancer was unstoppable in battle, diving right in without a second thought, even though she couldn't have had any more experience than Sophia did with battles.

Through careful observation and more than a little force of will, Sophia learned to fight. It wasn't long before symbology came naturally to her.

Fake smiles and forced excitement whenever she improved hid her lack of enthusiasm in battle – until Fayt came close enough to notice her body shuddering and her dangerously rapid heartbeat.

It happened on Styx. There were too many executioners to take on and no one was trying. Still, when two proclaimers cornered the party, there was nothing to do but fight. Clever tactics and a whole lot of items brought a rather glorious and unexpected victory, but not before Sophia was thrown backwards by a well-aimed swipe at her.

Fayt helped her up while the others did check ups on each other. The air of relief didn't quite reach the spot where Sophia had landed. She was shaking a harder than usual and her chest felt constricted. Her mind told her the threat was over, but her body couldn't decipher the message.

He noticed her trembling. "What's wrong?"

The trembling didn't stop. She shook her head, incapable of saying anything. The fight had been particularly bad. It was amazing she'd managed to remain standing for as long as she had.

Fayt gripped Sophia by both arms. "Sophia? Everything's all right. Snap out of it."

"Don't worry," she managed. "It'll be over in a second."

That was a lie. The shaking hardly ever stopped, though it varied in magnitude.

"You've had it before?"

_No, I've had it all the time since Moonbase. _Telling him that would only cause pointless worrying. Everyone had enough on their minds without worrying about a team mate losing her composure every time an enemy was in sight. She shrugged noncommittally. "That attack took me by surprise."

It wasn't enough, but the time for social interaction on the way to the Time Gate was close to zero. The trek north continued. Fayt promptly forgot Sophia's predicament in the excitement that followed.

After Sophia's connection gene manifested, she had less trouble with the shaking. It only came when a fight went awry. Needless to say, Sphere 211 had her shaking like a leaf.

Things couldn't go on the way they were going: Sophia was lucky the trembling stopped after an event on Elicoor II.

Sophia was fascinated with the places she visited on the so-called 'hunk of rock', almost too fascinated to be scared. She admired all the sights and filled her memory with pleasant scenery and interesting information she found on the planet. Living in constant fear had the habit of filling one with newfound appreciation for life.

She was in the middle of admiring Castle Aquaria when Fayt approached her. A sudden impulse drove her to share her fancies with him, though she knew he thought fairytales were nonsense.

Her subtle allusions to a handsome prince meant nothing to him; instead all he did was explain the monarchy to her. He really was dense.

His next action proved he might be one step from completely oblivious, but not quite a lost cause. Just when she was about to give up all hope, he went down on one knee. Sophia's heart sprang into her throat.

"Are you unhappy with me, my princess?" he asked. "I wasn't born into royalty or anything, but for you I'll become your knight in shining armour any time you want."

It was very melodramatic. Sophia knew Fayt was roleplaying to make her feel better. And it did make her feel better. "Oh…"

He stood up again, and all traces of acting were gone from his stance. "No good? You don't feel safe in my hands?"

She shook her head. "No. That's not true. Thanks, Fayt. Really, I mean it. I've been so scared all this time. I've barely been able to stay on my feet because my legs have been trembling with fear from the constant fighting. I thought I might be killed, and I also didn't feel like killing anything, even monsters. But still… If you really mean that, Fayt… If you'll really protect me… Then I think I can keep going." No matter if it was a roleplay. No matter if he forgot his promise. She knew he would protect her regardless.

That was the turning point. As the fear for her life abated, so did the fear of killing monsters. It was her or them. Slowly, the feigned enthusiasm during battles stopped being pretence and started being truth. Eventually she enjoyed battles to the point of entering a silly tournament just because Fayt asked her.

Sophia's mind rushed back to the present. Fayt was holding her bolero out to her. She put it on with marked reluctance, though warmth beat getting sunburnt. The fine layer of sweat on her skin would make her more susceptible to it.

"Want to go out and celebrate?" Fayt asked. Sophia peered at him. He seemed more energetic than he had before the fight, not at all afflicted by the fatigue plaguing her.

"Later maybe." She stretched carefully, hoping not to further abuse her tired, mistreated body.

"I'll hold you to that." Fayt observed her. "We do make a good team, don't we?"

Sophia smiled in response. "If we didn't, I wouldn't be here."

* * *

So much for my half-assed attempt to bridge Sophia's 'ooh I'm so scared'-speech on the balcony with her unbelievably enthusiastic battle quotes. 8) 


	7. Post Shower Scene

Title: To Claim and Reclaim

A/N: I wrote virtually non-stop since the last update. (Besides sleeping and doing necessary things.) I have the feeling it was very bad for my brain. X.x

Disclaimer: Still don't own Star Ocean.

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**Post Shower Scene**

Publicity was a scary thing, and Fayt was learning it the hard way. The assumption that only people who enjoyed watching programmes that were just about as exciting as watching paint dry would see the happenings in the preliminaries proved misplaced. Somehow, the preliminary matches had been blown out of proportion. The actual tournament was only going to start tomorrow, but it was somehow the only thing anyone would talk to him about. Several people from Fayt's university had been plaguing him with calls, none of which were filled with intelligent conversation.

He was starting to think entering the competition had been a bad idea. Attention was all right, but too much of it might lead to the exposure of things Fayt didn't want the rest of the universe to know. The Federation had kept his modified genes secret so far, but he couldn't count on everyone's goodwill.

Sometimes he was tempted to go to his mother and demand that she made him normal again. He doubted it could be done, but demanding it might ease his mind.

Still, things didn't seem quite so bad. Dangers of having the world know about his destruction gene weren't foremost on his mind, but the nature of Fayt's personality forced him to consider the possibility.

He was walking to Sophia's apartment. She'd told him she was cleaning the house for her flatmate, who was apparently coming back from her parents' house the in two days' time. Fayt wanted to help her – or at least attempt to help her. Sophia was like a miniature tornado when she cleaned, and a control freak to boot.

She didn't need his assistance. When he was totally honest with himself, he knew he was only coming over to spend time with her.

He arrived at Sophia's apartment. A few days ago she'd consented to leaving the key out so he wouldn't have to ring the doorbell every time. He removed the key from a pouch sewn into the bottom of the doormat, then put it back after unlocking the door.

After taking off his shoes in the hallway – it was too warm for a coat – he entered the living room.

And found himself in something of an embarrassing situation.

Who in their right mind vacuum cleaned while wearing only a towel?

The sight of Sophia doing so ingrained itself into Fayt's memory. It happened in a matter of seconds. She was standing in a pale pink towel, damp hair framing her shocked face. Her hands clamped the hose of the vacuum cleaner to her chest as her cheeks turned roughly the same colour as her garment.

She was beautiful. No one would ever catch Fayt admitting to it, but his childhood friend had the capacity to drive him mad. She had an innocent charm few older girls could boast about, and whenever she blushed it made most males in the vicinity twitch with longing to make her blush harder. Fayt was no different.

He flushed as he shut the living room door again, putting his back to it with the air of someone blocking out the assailant in a horror movie.

Fayt didn't know who he was blocking out; her or himself. But he wouldn't be able to block out the image of her as easily.

Sophia's voice came from the living room. She sounded flustered. "I'll – I'll be right back."

_Why does that not comfort me? _Fayt asked himself. Slowly, he started to smile. _Stupid _situation, but probably worth the embarrassment if Sophia remained flustered. Sophia was cute when she lost her composure; she'd start dropping things and have some kind of minor breakdown in the afternoon.

He re-entered the living room, which happened to be mournfully empty. Figuring that the sooner the work was done the sooner they could stop cleaning, Fayt picked up the vacuum cleaner and continued where Sophia left off.

She took ages dressing, which meant he was done vacuum cleaning by the time she came back. He looked up when she entered the room. She was dressed in a pale green top and jean shorts, with a green handkerchief holding her hair back.

Her cheeks coloured as soon as their eyes met. Fayt offered her a half smile and an apology. "Sorry I didn't knock." People apologised for things they didn't really feel sorry for all the time.

Sophia didn't seem able to think of a response. Instead, she took the vacuum cleaner from him and frowned. "When will you learn to vacuum in regular patterns?" With her free hand, she motioned at the carpet. It was upturned in the most haphazard way.

Fayt made a pretence of thinking. "Oh, I don't know. When you stop being a neat freak?"

Sophia quickly went over the parts of the carpet that were irregularly flat, managing to make the carpet look lovely and fluffy again in a matter of seconds. Watching her, a sudden thought occurred to Fayt.

"Do you think our parents manipulated anything other than the extra genes?" he asked.

Sophia was distracted from her last trek around the room. "Huh? How do you mean?"

"Well, like they altered our appearances. Hair colour, eye colour, whatever."

She resumed cleaning, whipping out a cloth and going over the glass table. "Why would they do that? Besides, people tell us we look like our parents all the time. They can't have –" she trailed off.

"See? What if they wanted us to look like them?" Fayt put a hand on his hip. It was strange the thought never occurred to him before.

Sophia finished cleaning the table and started on the kitchen worktop. "Oh, Fayt, you're just being silly. You see conspiracies everywhere."

"But you can't deny the possibility –"

"Fayt." It sounded like a reprimand. "You forget one thing: they're our parents. They love us. We're no more test subjects to them than they are to us."

He sighed. Sophia had a point, no matter how much distrust he felt he ought to feel towards his parents. Besides, Robert had been the one in charge of the research. He would hardly have died to protect something he didn't love and cherish.

"You're right," Fayt conceded. "Hey, is there anything I can do? I did come here to help you."

"Check the fridge, see if anything's past its expiry date. If you're not sure, let me smell it."

Fayt carried out the task she gave him, and the next. Both were rather easy; Fayt knew Sophia wasn't very good at letting people help her when she cleaned. Normally he would spread out on the couch and let her do everything, but he wanted to prove that he _could _clean up when he put his hand to it. Cleaning was a skill she valued. Besides, the more he helped the faster she'd be done.

It was two o'clock before they were finished. They collapsed onto the couch and into each other. Sophia leaned back against Fayt's chest and he rested his head on her shoulder. The pose felt completely natural, though that, in itself, was strange.

Fayt didn't know what to make of his childhood friend. After her thorough rejection of him when they returned to Earth, he had expected that she held some sort of grudge. _Something _had to be resolved, he'd thought, before anything could start moving. However, nothing had been resolved and somehow their relationship was closer than ever in a very precarious way, as if one misstep could be the death of it.

Sophia didn't seem to mind it when he touched her, either. She'd always been compliant, but Fayt seriously doubted she'd allow anyone to touch her if she minded the contact. Unless she was scared. Which brought him back to an annoying thought: was Sophia scared of him? She wasn't the one who initiated the contact; maybe she was just gritting her teeth and dealing with it.

No. That was stupid.

"So," Fayt started, needing to lighten his mood. "Would you have done the whole house in a towel if I hadn't come in?"

Sophia punched his stomach weakly. "Not funny," she mumbled, turning red again.

"What do you want to do?" He changed the subject. It was fun to tease, but he knew not to keep going too long.

"_Besides _find a new hiding place for the key? I don't know. I'm too tired to do much." She sighed heavily to prove it.

Fayt picked up the remote control and turned on the TV. As luck would have it, there was something about the Ultimate Clash tournament on the screen.

"Yes," a plump man in a black suit was saying to an attractive interviewer. "There were about one thousand teams that entered the tournament. The majority of them didn't get through the preliminaries though. Some of the teams that managed to get through gave up when they saw other teams fight."

The attractive woman interviewing the man glanced at the camera, before turning rapt attention on the man. "And who would you say are the favourites?" She folded her legs in a way that made her dress reveal her gorgeous limbs favourably.

"It's hard to say," he answered. The man's eyes flicked down to observe the woman's exposed legs, before being focused on her face with what looked like strength of will. Fayt felt a little sorry for the man; he was embarrassing himself. The man continued on, heedless of the sympathy thrown his way. "There's one team of Klausians that's promising. They're a group of three, which makes winning less likely, but you know what people say about Klausians."

"They're good in bed?" the woman joked, voice smooth like honey.

The man seemed on the verge of choking. "Besides that." A forced smile. Fayt was unimpressed. That woman was sadistic. She was beautiful, true, with long, silky black hair, wide eyes and lips that would look exceptionally good in a pout, but the beauty only served to emphasise how cruelly she was treating the man. For some reason, it bothered him.

Fayt changed the channel. Sophia stirred. "Hey, don't you want to know if they mention us?"

"Why would they?"

She thought. "Well, we did all right, didn't we? And we went first."

He knew what she was thinking. "And we're the more or less anonymous children of the Esteeds and Leingods?"

"I didn't want to say it, but yeah. Whenever people hear my last name they go: 'Wait a second… Esteed… Doesn't your dad work with the Leingods?'"

Fayt didn't want his or Sophia's accomplishments to be constantly compared to that of their parents. He had wanted nothing more before Moonbase, but that time was over. He used to think that having a famous father and mother to measure up to was a great thing. Now it felt more like a burden.

The new channel seemed to be broadcasting a boring programme about the poisonous toadstools on some backwater planet. That and only that was what made Fayt switch back to the previous channel.

Well, that was what he told himself.

The man and the witch weren't on screen anymore. Instead short clips were shown. The couple was, however, providing commentary. Fayt and Sophia watched as they saw a group of kids get more or less trampled by eight dragons.

The man explained. "We failed to mention a minimum age anywhere, so legally, anyone could enter. It was a rather stupid oversight, but by the time we noticed it, it was already too late. The children are all right, of course. There were a lot of medics at hand, and guards trained to step in if things became too dangerous."

The next shot was of three people. Fayt assumed they were the Klausians. There were two men and one woman, all three fair haired and well-muscled. The woman wasn't as pretty as Mirage and the men didn't look as strong as Cliff to Fayt, but then, he knew he was biased.

The Klausians fought with brute strength and a lack of skill that looked almost professional. Maybe that was their tactic: to just follow instincts and remain a complete wild card.

More clips followed, until finally a familiar scenario appeared. A blue-haired boy was facing off with three dragons while his companion tried to shake off a single dragon that was focussing on her. Fayt watched what happened. He watched how Sophia whacked the beast and jumped backwards, tripping over a ledge. She caught the fall on her left side before lying still on her back.

A groan came from the girl next to him. Fayt stopped her from covering her eyes at the sight of herself lying on the ground looking dazed.

The dragon stood over the girl. A close-up revealed Sophia's pained expression as she turned her head to the side and squeezed her eyes shut. Her staff was up to block the dragon's oncoming rampage, but anyone watching would be able to tell it wasn't enough.

"They show it so dramatically," Sophia complained. "I think they've actually put it in slow motion to give it suspense."

Fayt smiled, though he didn't reply. He saw himself kick the dragon away before scooping Sophia up in his arms and running to an empty corner of the stage. It looked very much like a scene from a movie.

"Do you know more about this couple?" the woman asked as the shot continued.

"Fayt Leingod and Sophia Esteed. Well, apart from having famous parents, I can't say I know anything about them."

"Nothing? Well, they make a very nice couple. I'll bet they'll be famous before long."

"How so?"

"They have all the makings for it. Did you see that save? Now there's passion."

Fayt was getting distinctly uncomfortable watching total strangers talk about him on television. He didn't have to suffer for long, because another team's clip came on after the woman's proclamation, this one showing a team that seemed to use dancing to help defeat the monsters. Fayt stopped listening.

"They really don't know anything about us. I'm kind of relieved."

Sophia twisted her neck incongruously to observe him, frowning. "What happened to wanting recognition?"

"One, it was a joke, and two, too much recognition might make someone want to gather information on me I'd rather they didn't have."

Sophia grinned. "There's a word for your state of mind you know. Paranoia."

He sighed. "_One _of us has to think of consequences."

"Before the actual fact, if it's at all possible."

"Ouch. When did you get so vindictive?"

Sophia stared at the ceiling as she thought. "I think I've always been like this. You probably never paid attention before."

- - -

The stadium was packed, and so was the backstage room. As luck would have it, the first two teams to face off against each other were comprised of eight players. Rules required the teams second in line to be waiting backstage too, in case the match before came to an abrupt halt.

Sophia wished the rules were different. She'd seen detention rooms she'd rather be in.

Because the room would be hot and stifling without it, the air conditioning was on full blast. The force of it was chilling her skin. That wasn't to mention the rather loud squabbling from the other teams.

After a series of rather stupid catcalls from the large teams – none aimed at them – Fayt touched Sophia's arm. "You're freezing. Let's go get your sweater."

"But when we're fighting I'll get too wa–"

"We won't be fighting for some time." He leaned in. "And it's worth it just to get away from these idiots."

Point taken. They left the room.

Upon entering the dressing room, Fayt and Sophia sighed simultaneously.

"They really are idiots," Sophia said, frowning. "It's like they can't understand where the game ends and reality begins. It's almost scary."

Fayt shrugged. "They're used to their opponents being computerised programs. Having a sentient being as an opponent can be a shock. I was more disturbed by the lack of variety in the insults they were throwing at each other."

Sophia found her pink bolero and put it back on, blissfully warm on her chilled skin. "I'm glad they're not throwing them at us. And that the team we're up against isn't as loud and arrogant. Or big."

Said team had showed complete disinterest towards the other teams and quietly started playing cards on the floor. It was a group of four, three boys and one girl. Their behaviour was odd, but at least they were quiet. The fact that they didn't feel the need for bluster made Sophia a tad apprehensive; maybe they were so good that they had no reason to be nervous.

Fayt and Sophia headed back to the packed room in time to see the first two teams leave. The arrogance had been swept off their faces and anxiety had replaced it. No matter that Sophia didn't like the people walking into the arena, she still felt a little sorry for them.

For the first few minutes of the fight, she watched. It was complete and utter chaos on the battlefield. Half the contestants were fighting with guns and the other half used a form of symbology that was two thirds pretty and one third useful. Sophia had seen fireworks that did more damage.

She let the red curtain that seperated the stage from the room she was in fall back into place. Fayt, who had been standing behind her watching, raised his eyebrows.

"If we have to fight against any of them, I want sunglasses," Sophia told him. "Everything looks impressive, but their spells hardly do any damage. Watching them isn't going to improve our tactics one bit. If we get too inspired by them we'll probably lose any advantage of experience we have."

Fayt's eyebrows rose further. "I agree." Then why was he looking surprised?

They stood in silence for a while before sitting down on one of the benches. After another minute of doing nothing but listen to the other team play cards, Sophia started, "I spy with my little eye, something beginning with – F."

"Oh, come on," Fayt said, not playing along. He observed her smile. "You're not serious, are you?"

Bored and serious overlapped sometimes. "There's nothing else to do."

"Fine." Fayt glanced at the ceiling. "'Fan'?"

Sophia shook her head.

"'Feet'? 'Faces'?" There really wasn't a lot of anything in the room. Sophia watched Fayt scrutinise it. He shrugged. "'Fwall?'"

She grinned. "When we're in doubt, people often tell us to look inside ourselves for the answer." It was a rather obvious hint.

He rolled his eyes. "'Fayt?'"

"Bingo!"

"That was a stupid word. It wasn't even a word."

Sophia pouted. "I thought it was good. Come on! It's your turn."

He sighed. "Fine. I spy with my little eye something beginning with T."

She peered around the room. "T… T… T…" Her eyes alighted on the other team. "'Team'? 'Teenagers'? 'Ten of diamonds'?"

Fayt poked her nose. "'Time to stop playing this stupid game.'"

"No fair!"

A surge of noise from outside interrupted Sophia's opportunity to be indignant. "Sounds like they're done," Fayt said, standing up. Sophia discarded her sweater before following. They drew the curtain back to observe the happenings in the stadium.

Medics hovered around the stage. In total, there were three challengers still standing up straight. Sophia had seen ugly fights before, but seeing so many people lying incapacitated in front of a huge crowd filled her with fear and disgust. On their journey, it would've meant certain death if the whole party lost its ability to fight. With no one to revive them, all her companions were fit to be trampled to death. The thought still plagued her.

Sophia grabbed her staff from its spot against the wall, comforted by the feel of it.

She whirled to face the other team. They were cleaning up their card game. "Hey, good luck," she told them.

Fayt raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment. The opposing team looked up. "Yeah, you too," the girl said. "It's nothing personal, remember."

Sophia smiled. "I'll keep that in mind."

After a quick announcement from Dirna, the two teams marched onto the stage. This time, a simulation of sand covered it. Sophia tested the soil. It would be easy to twist an ankle with the terrain so unstable.

Solon's voice blasted from the speakers. "On the left we have team Fayt and Sophia, and on the right is team 'Jokers'! Not much is known about them, but I'd say they're evenly matched. Who knows? We'll find out soon enough. Let the match begin!"

He'd hardly uttered the words before Sophia had to dodge three ninja stars, all thrown at her head. She was immediately disorientated, though she managed to perceive it was the girl who had thrown them. It was rather sudden either way.

Sophia had the feeling it might be better to stay back and observe before doing anything.

Fayt didn't share the sentiment.

He charged. "Air raid!" He'd barely begun the attack before a red pit appeared and Fayt triggered dimension door. "Now you see me – now you don't!"

Opponents were momentarily stunned, but they were too quick to be caught in Fayt's next attack. They scattered.

No, wait. They didn't scatter. Sophia's grip on her staff became sweaty. They were coming straight for her!

It was time for some serious stunlocking, never mind damage. She halted one boy with an arrow before conjuring thunder flare. The two boys running with him were sucked into it. Unfortunately, Sophia was unable to budge while she channelled thunder flare, and the girl was still free to move.

A sharp object pierced Sophia's shoulder. "Ah!" She fell onto her knees, tears instantly clouding her eyes with the pain. "Fayt!"

He was there, halting his attack on the three guys previously caught in Sophia's spell to come to her aid. The girl throwing ninja stars received a harsh blow to the head, followed up by a few devastating combos.

Sophia stood up again, free hand on her wound. It stung like hell. She removed the object from her shoulder, throwing it onto the sand. There was no time to heal herself. "Thunder flare!"

It caught two of the boys this time, the third having learned from his previous mistake of staying too close to his companions. Fayt tried to draw him away from Sophia with a taunt. "If you're gonna run, better start now!"

No use. It might work on monsters, but people with an intelligible plan in mind weren't going to be swayed by catcalls.

Sophia tore herself away from her spell, running away from the guy who'd dodged thunder flare. The sand hampered her in her escape. Her pursuer drew his weapon back – a whip. Sophia hadn't seen one used in battle since Berial, but she wasn't about to lie back and find out whether being hit with one still stung.

The choice wasn't hers to make. The boy lashed out and caught Sophia's ankle with the end of his whip. Before he could trip her, she cast earth glaive. "Cut through!" she yelled, somewhat desperate. It delayed her fall, but nothing short of a miracle could prevent it. The guy wrenched his whip back to throw Sophia over.

_Why am I the one that keeps falling?_ she thought, annoyed. Well, she wasn't going to panic like last time. A spell she'd learned from a scroll rose to mind.

"I need some help, please…" she whispered. Eight critters appeared to besiege her foe. In the distraction, Sophia managed to loose the whip from around her ankle.

She stood up only to find the rest of the team throwing spells at her simultaneously. Fayt was fighting as hard as he could, but their opponents were fixated on Sophia, perhaps thinking to take out the weakest one first.

Running away saved Sophia from any serious damage, but the two fire bolts that caught up with her blasted straight into her wounded shoulder. She let out an incoherent cry of pain before stumbling onto the ground.

"Healing!" The shout was accompanied by blissful relief from her throbbing wound. _Thanks, Fayt._

The fight continued. Before long the girl and the boy with the whip were incapacitated. Fayt and Sophia had to fight with all their strength to make sure their team mates didn't get the chance to revive them.

A combination of stunning by Sophia and damaging by Fayt made another of their opponents drop. There was only one left now. Sophia watched him reach into his pocket.

_Please don't have analeptic. Please don't have analeptic. Please don't have analeptic._

She tried to reach him before he used the item, but she was too late.

Only, why was nothing happening? She glanced at Fayt. _Oh. _Something had happened: Fayt was frozen solid. Her last adversary rushed towards him.

_No!_ Sophia thought. She might've said it aloud. She didn't know. There was no time to think. Sophia rushed forwards to push the boy away from Fayt. The boy's sword cut into her arm, but she ignored it. Instead, she rammed her staff into his stomach and used earth glaive to get the enemy away from her comrade.

"Cure condition!" she yelled, squeezing her eyes shut. She'd seen her opponent was rushing at her, sword raised. He had a good chance of impaling her and it was too late to do anything about it. Curing Fayt had probably been a bad idea, but in battle there was no time to think. Sophia might not get the chance to learn from her mistake: a sword through the stomach made for very bad concentration.

A clash sounded just as Sophia was able to move again. She looked up. Fayt, unfrozen, had blocked the coming attack with a speed Sophia hadn't previously seen from him. A shuddering sigh of relief escaped her. She hopped back, dripping a trail of blood on the sand.

"Stone rain!" she yelled, casting with her last ounce of strength to put an end to the fight. Her foe fell. Sophia was very tempted to just collapse and lie on the ground as he did.

Wait, she was on the ground. When had that happened? She was kneeling quietly on the stage as the crowd went wild. Through hazy vision, she observed Fayt as he rushed over to her and kneeled, laying his hands on her wounded arm.

A healing spell cured the wound, but it was lack of blood causing her dizziness. Fayt tried to pull her to her feet. She moaned as the world spun.

"Come on," he told her. Sophia clutched at his shirt, eyes shut tight. There was a strange feeling at the back of her neck, as if unconsciousness was one step away. Fayt kneeled down again. "Do you want everyone to see you like this?"

A very slight shake of her head was the only reply he got. Sophia managed to sit upright without his help, a feat she'd be thankful for later.

A medic joined them while others busied themselves with the losing team. "Is she still conscious?" he asked Fayt.

Sophia saw her friend nod. If only her vision wasn't fading in and out! It was black-rimmed and oddly coloured. Every time she breathed deeply the black faded, but it came back whenever she exhaled.

"She's lost a bit of blood, but it's nothing to worry about," the medic said after a quick examination. "She's probably just sensitive to blood loss. It'll get better soon. All I can suggest is to make sure that she drinks a lot of water. All right?"

"Yep, got it."

The medic left them. Slowly, Sophia managed to get up. Fayt helped her walk towards the exit. There were no journalists in the room this time – security had been tightened – but the teams that were up next assailed Fayt with questions. He didn't answer a single one.

The trek to the stadium's exit seemed far too long. "Fayt," Sophia said weakly. "I don't think I can keep going. Hold on a moment. I'm dizzy. I'm seeing black –"

A sudden lurch and she was being carried. "There's no one here," Fayt told her. "So it's all right."

"I don't care if anyone sees," she told him miserably. "I feel so sick. This happened last time I had blood taken too. I get sick to the stomach and –"

Fayt shushed her. Sophia was annoyed that she couldn't finish her sentence for the second time in a row. She contented herself by moaning into his collar. Somehow, making unsettling sounds helped ease the bad feeling. By the time they reached the back exit of the stadium, she could walk on her own.

Obviously, the back way wasn't known by the rest of the rest of the world. It was deserted, except for a lone figure standing with her arms crossed, a few steps away from them.

"Mum?" Fayt asked, squinting against the sunlight.

"Fayt. I saw Sophia get hurt. Is she okay?"

He nodded. Sophia lifted her head, previously focused on watching her feet. "Hi, aunt Ryoko," she uttered. Her voice was sounding stronger.

"Hey Sophia." Ryoko smiled gently. "I'm glad you're all right."

"What are you doing here?" Fayt inquired. "Is anything wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong. I found out you had a match today because people started calling me about you. I wanted to – oh, never mind. Now's not the time. You should bring Sophia home so she can rest. But please – could you come home sometime? You can bring Sophia along if you want. I just feel we need to talk."

It was obvious Fayt didn't want to, but the nature of the situation made him agree faster than Sophia expected him to.

"Fine. That might be a good idea. How did you like our moves, by the way?"

"I _don't _like you fighting, but at least you do it with skill. We're proud of you."

Sophia wondered about her words as Fayt half-carried her to the nearest transporter. She doubted Ryoko was using the royal 'we'.

Sophia was home in a matter of minutes. Fayt made her lie down after forcing a glass of water down her throat and laying a hand on her forehead. "I don't get fevers," she objected as he pushed her down onto the couch.

"Would you stop being stubborn and just rest?"

"Why are we always putting each other to bed?" Sophia asked, miles away from the topic he was trying to introduce.

"Withdrawal symptoms from living away from our parents?" Fayt guessed.

"They weren't the kind of parents who put their children to bed every night," Sophia told him, smiling at the silly idea. She and Fayt had been past the age of being put to bed for years, anyway. "Hey, we should visit your mother tomorrow. Our next match is in the morning, so we should be able to go by in the evening."

Fayt shrugged. "I don't know. _Please _go to sleep? We can talk about this after you've rested."

"You don't enjoy my company when I'm awake? Thanks a lot." Sophia smiled to take the sting out of her words.

Fayt clutched at air in frustration. "You're worse than Cliff when he broke his hand, I swear!"

Sophia laughed. In the ruins of Mosel, a sudden collapse had trapped Cliff and Peppita under a pile of very heavy, very solid debris. Cliff, ladies man that he was, protected Peppita from any kind of injury. He even saved her from boredom: instead of waiting for his companions to lift the rocks and parts of the wall off him and Peppita, he punched his way out of the situation. It worked, but an awkward blow fractured the bones in his right hand, a thing Cliff still regarded with utter mortification.

The days afterwards, he wouldn't consent to taking it easy for any length of time. Healing spells had fixed the break, but the bones were still tender and shouldn't have been used so soon.

Try telling Cliff that.

"Fayt, I didn't lose that much blood," Sophia said presently. "I just needed to rest for a bit. I'm okay now."

She was shocked into compliant silence when he pressed his lips to her forehead in a soft kiss. "I'm glad," he said, glancing into her eyes before looking away. "You did great. But seeing you get hurt like that because of a silly tournament I got you to enter frightened me a bit. Next time, block with your staff, not your arm."

He got up and walked to the kitchen.

Sophia lay in silence, wondering. It took strong force of will not to touch the place where he'd kissed her. Why did he do that?

_Does it matter? _a part of her wanted to know. She shook her head. It _did_ matter; the fact that it meant nothing matteredThe kiss had been a way of showing his relief, nothing more. That it filled her with a longing for something she'd considered unattainable for some time had nothing to do with him.

_Would you really stick around if you considered it unattainable? Or is unrequited love just an excuse to hide your feelings?_

Sophia got up from the couch. Belatedly, she realised she'd left her bolero at the stadium. She opened her mouth to tell Fayt, then closed it when she saw it lying on the magazine rack. He'd brought it with him.

"Hey, Fayt?" she uttered, approaching him.

He turned to her and handed her a glass of water wordlessly. "Um, thanks," she told him. She took a quick sip, then put it down quickly, afraid she might drop it. Her queasiness had nothing to do with blood loss.

_Can I tell him? _she asked herself. They were in a quiet environment. It would be easy for Fayt to turn her down gently, and Sophia would smile and nod and say that it was okay, while all the time it felt like her heart was imploding. They'd spend the rest of the day in a mix of awkwardness and familiarity, then Fayt would leave and Sophia would be convinced her life was over.

_Can I tell him? _she asked herself again.

_No way._

Still, she couldn't leave it forever. _All right, _she thought. _Time for a gamble. If we win five more matches, I'll tell him._

The thought was part of a game she'd played with herself since she was tiny. If she could clean up before her parents got home, she'd treat herself to a sweetie. If she could get to school on time, she'd go to the bakery on her way home. That sort of thing. Only this time it was something much more important.

She had the feeling she'd be eager to lose that fifth match. No one witnessed her make the deal, but she told herself she'd keep to it.

Nothing of her inner turmoil showed. Fayt grew impatient waiting for her to say something. "What is it?" he asked.

"We really should go see your mother," she said without hesitation, as if it had been what she'd wanted to say all along. "This evening, if you'd like."

Fayt sighed. "You're going to keep bugging me if I don't give in, aren't you? I said I'd go."

"This evening."

"One condition," Fayt said. He moved around the worktop and closed the distance between them. His hand came to rest on the back of Sophia's neck, fingers trailing the skin there. Her whole body trembled at his touch, and she couldn't decide whether to die or run around screaming. Neither seemed very intelligent, and she refrained from doing either, even though it was tempting.

"We'll go see my mother _if_ you let her take a look at this."

_At this? At what? Where? _Sophia's befuddled mind couldn't comprehend what Fayt was talking about.

Then his fingers passed a bump, and she was reminded of the chip that had been inserted into her neck. _Oh, that._

It might be a good idea, she reasoned. She'd been tempted to tell her own parents and have them look at it at one point, but she'd decided it would only make them worry. The chip hadn't actually done anything when there were no Vendeeni around, and having it removed didn't seem very important. Never mind that; if Fayt wanted it to be looked at so badly, she'd comply.

She had the feeling she'd comply if he wanted anything badly.


	8. Blue

Title: To Claim and Reclaim

A/N: Puppies and muffins and happiness to all of you! –throws confetti- (In case I don't update before the fourteenth.) You know how much I appreciate you now.

Disclaimer: This has to come as a surprise every time. No copyright regarding Star Ocean here.

* * *

**  
Blue**

Ryoko's lips were set in a tight line while she worked. An uncomfortable feeling assailed Sophia as the chip was drawn out, signalling Ryoko's success. Sophia clenched Fayt's hand, answered by a quick stream of healing powers. She was thankful for his presence; battles held nothing to sitting still while something was extracted – painfully – from the back of your neck.

Sophia looked up. "Finished?" she asked hopefully.

"More or less," aunt Ryoko answered with a smile. She dabbed the back of Sophia's neck with a cotton wool pad and disinfectant before observing the object she'd retrieved from under Sophia's skin. It was a rectangular, thin piece of metal covered in a solid gel-like substance that made sure the chip didn't cut the skin around it. Ryoko looked at the device she held between her thumb and forefinger with poorly hidden contempt.

"Despicable."

She didn't have to elaborate.

Fayt let Sophia's hand go, folding his arms. "Can you see what it does?"

"I can't tell you much before I examine it under the microscope," Ryoko informed them. "It _looks _like a tracking device, but its placement – the back of the neck – suggests it might have been tampering with nerves too."

"That's right," Sophia told Fayt's mother, frowning. "Whenever I was near Vendeeni, I could feel it at the back of my neck."

Ryoko nodded. "I'll look into it later. I should be able to tell you everything, but if I can't find out I'll hand it over to the lab for Vendeeni artefacts. I'm interested in the material covering the chip. It's like silicone, only finer."

"Good thing you could conveniently deliver it then, Sophia," Fayt said sarcastically.

"Fayt!" Sophia shouted. "Aunt Ryoko didn't mean it like that!"

Ryoko nodded. "I didn't. No thinking human being could be glad about something like that." She turned her attention to Sophia. "Sophia, could you – did you see if they did anything like this to Robert?"

The atmosphere changed instantaneously. Sophia could've sworn the temperature dropped. She coughed. "I doubt it. When they inserted the chip, I was brought to this lab. One jab of a needle and I was out like a light.

"When I woke up, I was back in my cell. It was next to doctor Leingod's. He told me I'd been out for nearly a day. I asked him what had happened and he told me they'd installed a chip in the back of my neck. He didn't know what it did; he asked me to let him look at it when we returned to Earth." Sophia's stomach churned. Robert had returned to Earth in a box. "I asked him whether he'd gotten one too and he said no.

"Well, it made sense that he hadn't. He did tell me the Vendeeni were trying to get him on their side. First they tried to convince him. They'd take him out of his cell for hours and he'd come back looking tired. Then they used coercion. He'd be gone for less long, but he'd come back looking downright scared."

Ryoko put her hand in front of her face, though it did nothing to hide her pain. Fayt sat down on the stool next to Sophia, holding her hand once more.

Sophia looked at her companions, biting her lip. "I'm sorry, I – 'no' would have been enough."

Ryoko let her hand fall and shook her head. "No, we should know what there is to know. You were his last real companion before he died. You've had to keep this to yourself for too long. Please tell us whatever you can bear."

"There isn't much more," Sophia admitted. "He wouldn't tell me what it was they did when he was gone. I don't think they ever hurt him: they needed him to be intact to work for them. I think they threatened him. With others. He knew they wouldn't hurt him, but they probably threatened to hurt me. When they installed the chip, he seemed to feel guilty. If it is a tracking device, I have the feeling he might have told the Vendeeni that I held a special gene too, to protect me. They'd want to keep tabs on me to see if it was true, in case I escaped."

She'd had a lot of time to think about it, and that theory seemed the most likely. The fact that it was a tracking device made a lot of things fall into place.

Fayt's squeezed her hand absently, as if to reassure her. A shiver went up her spine, making her feel ashamed of herself. She looked down. Here she was telling two people how a family member spent his last days and one motion from Fayt made her completely forget the situation. He was staring at their hands intensely, mind probably moving at the speed of light. If it had been him in her situation, he'd have figured everything out in the time it took her to realise what had happened.

Ryoko sighed, bringing Sophia back to the subject at hand. "It's like him. I'm sure Robert did everything he could to protect you, but if he divulged the information they wanted it might have been the entire universe at stake."

Sophia nodded. "I don't blame him for anything. If he hadn't been there, I don't know how I would've managed to survive in captivity. He always knew when to reassure me."

The two women locked glances. Ryoko's eyes were dry, but Sophia had the feeling the other woman was on the verge of breaking down. And no wonder. Once, she'd been forced to use forbidden methods so that the universe and all she knew could be salvaged. She'd had to use them on her son. Then years later, her life fell apart once more when her husband died and her relationship with her son became awkward and strained.

What was it like, to build a life and have it shatter, not once, but twice?

Sophia vowed to do what she could for the woman who was like an aunt to her. She didn't know whether she had enough of a hold over Fayt to force him to accept his mother, but she didn't think she had to. He only needed someone to make him see sense. Perhaps he was already in the process of forgiving her.

Presently, Ryoko laid the chip away and motioned for them to follow her out of the lab-like room. "Come on, I'll make some tea and we can talk in the living room. No need to stay here."

Fayt and Sophia trailed Ryoko. The Leingod house was spacious and well-furnished, while being a far cry away from tacky. Sophia, whose apartment bordered cheap because of all the bright colours, could appreciate the rich tans and reds worked into the surroundings. It was very easy on the eye, though it wouldn't have suited a young person's house.

They reached the living room. Ryoko headed towards the kitchen.

"Oh!" Sophia voiced. "Can I help?"

A flap of Ryoko's hand signified her dismissal. Sophia stood in the room indecisively. She hadn't been to Fayt's house for a very long time. It hadn't changed, but she had. While at one time it would've been all right for her to wreak havoc on the furniture and run around rooms, now she didn't even know where to sit down.

Fayt wasn't in the same predicament. He sat down on the couch, resting his head on his hands. Sophia sat down next to him awkwardly. Now that her part of the deal was over, she felt out of place. She wanted to talk to him about his mother, but how could she broach a subject like that?

"Do you keep in contact with your mum and dad?" he asked. Did he read minds nowadays?

"Yeah, I do. I phone at least twice a week and visit once a month, usually more often."

Fayt opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, then closed it again. He shook his head. Sophia wondered what he wanted to say. "We've put the past behind us," she added.

"And you don't mind it that your parents treated you like a test subject?"

Sophia shook her head. Having the ability to save the universe wasn't something she was particularly miserable about. "I would've minded more if they'd done nothing."

"Point taken." Fayt sighed. "I'm not really angry. When we came back here, I really _was _happy to see everyone. But when the destruction gene started acting up again, I felt hard done to."

"What happened?"

"Nothing. Well, I had to destroy a tree."

For some reason, that cracked Sophia up. "I always figured you to be an environmentally friendly type."

Fayt glared, though a smile tugged at his lips. "You may laugh, but the fact that I have to destroy something every once in a while scares me."

"So what do you do?"

"Promise you won't laugh?" He looked sheepish. "I get rid of trash. I'm a student; we basically live in a dump."

"That's a great idea!"

"Try telling that to my roommate when he finds out I accidentally wiped out his sweater."

Ryoko came back into the room, carrying a tray. She put it down on the table before sitting down on the couch opposite Fayt and Sophia. Sophia shifted uncomfortably, wondering what to say.

"So," Ryoko started. "How is it that my son and his friend decided to get themselves beat up on television?"

"We don't get beat up," Fayt objected. He glanced at Sophia. "Well, we shouldn't. I got overconfident. I thought it would be all right to hold back."

Sophia would've fallen over if she wasn't seated. He was holding back? _Why?_

_Well_, she thought, trying to remain reasonable. _If I wasn't getting stuck in short range all the time, I'd be dishing out damage too. Besides, it's only logical Fayt is ahead of me._

She was reminded of the speed with which Fayt had blocked the blow coming for her in the last match. The situation was dire, so he stopped holding back. Perhaps, if he could push himself to higher levels, so could she. No, not 'perhaps'. She _knew _she could. Still, to go all out against other human beings –humanoids, at the least – struck her as immoral. Especially when she reminded herself that a humiliating defeat would be watched by many people. It was better when it looked like a fair match, even if the opponent was outclassed when push came to shove.

Ryoko sighed into her teacup. "It looked good on TV, at least."

Fayt looked up, surprised. "I thought you were waiting at the back exit near the end."

"I was," his mother replied, raising an eyebrow. "You seem to be forgetting that you two are becoming minor celebrities."

"We are?" Sophia asked, nearly choking on a mouthful of tea. The concept had been a funny thought, but hearing it stated plainly by Ryoko made fame seem a lot more likely.

"I was thinking," Fayt started. "Is it possible for people to… find out?"

It was the second time that day that temperature seemed to drop at a person's words.

Ryoko looked torn. "I'd like to say them finding out is out of the question, but modern technology has a way of hacking into older systems. Your friend, Maria, was pretty close to uncovering the truth by herself. But if you're asking whether it will become widely known, I say no. The public has no way of finding out."

Her son sighed. "Good. At least I can stop worrying about that, then."

Sophia observed Ryoko from behind her teacup. The woman was looking at Fayt with an almost penetrating intensity, as if she was dying to say something but couldn't quite find the words or the context. Sophia drained the contents of her cup, thinking. Ryoko needed time alone with her son. There was unfinished business that couldn't be addressed with an outsider there, even if the outsider was a friend. Sophia wasn't part of the family.

She put her teacup back on the table. Fayt had drunk most of his, too, and she didn't hesitate to refill it before walking to the kitchen with her own empty one. Right, now for leaving the house without making it obscenely obvious that she was trying to get Fayt to talk things over with his mother.

Upon re-entering the living room – heady with silence – she shouted, distraught, "Oh, aunt Ryoko! I just remembered I've done something really stupid. I'm sorry to leave in such a rush, but I've left the oven on!" She was lying through her teeth, but it was for a good cause. "Thank you for your hospitality; I really appreciate it."

Fayt started to get up, but a motion from Sophia stopped him. "Hey, it's rude to leave before you finish your tea," she scolded.

"Then wait a second –"

"No!" Sophia said hurriedly. "I mean, my apartment might be going up in flames already. I've got to hurry. See you! 'Till next match."

She nearly ran out of the house before Ryoko had the chance to reply.

_Well_, Sophia thought as she walked home. _I tried, at least. There's nothing else I can do._

- - -

Fayt watched Sophia leave, feeling a combination of amusement and annoyance. "She'd never leave the oven on," he said vaguely. "That was a really bad excuse."

His mother smiled. "It's very typical of Sophia. She's a great girl."

Fayt looked up. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing I say will be a revelation to you, Fayt. You know how she is better than I. It's just that she tries so hard to do her best."

He wrinkled his nose. "That used to annoy me."

"But it doesn't anymore," Ryoko stated firmly. He didn't deny it. Instead, he stood up and stuffed his hands in his pockets, turning away slightly. The atmosphere had ceased being awkward, but Fayt's feelings hadn't. It was hard to stay still.

Ryoko stood up too, folding her arms. She hadn't been in Fayt's life much recently, but she wasn't oblivious to her son's behaviour. "You're smitten. I wondered when you would realise."

Fayt whirled to face her. "I –"

His mother grabbed his chin, shutting him up firmly. "Fayt, denying it won't help."

"I haven't even talked to you properly for a year and you're interfering with things you don't know anything about. Why do outsiders always think they know things better than those involved? That's plain stupid."

Fayt didn't know whether he was angry or scared.

Ryoko jerked his chin, a no-nonsense rattle he didn't think he deserved. "Because this _outsider _isn't looking at the past and past experiences. I'm looking at the present, and _that's _glaringly clear."

"Sophia's always been like this," he argued. His feelings might have changed: hers hadn't. He wanted her, but not enough to risk frightening her away.

His mother let go of him, sighing. "You're so hard to convince when you've made up your mind. Whenever I used to force you into anything, you'd drag your feet all the way. Stubborn boy."

"Can't help it," Fayt said with the ghost of a smile. Somehow, his expectations of the visit had been thoroughly ignored. He'd expected to sit out the evening smothering resentment as he tried to decide whether Ryoko was the mother he loved or the scientist that had tampered with his genetic material. Nothing could be less true. Had all his objections been part of some stupid rebellious phase? He hoped not.

She folded her arms. "Anyway, I didn't come here to argue about your love life – not that it can be called that." Fayt ignored the annoyed note in her voice. "The tournament. It's the shiftiest thing I've seen happening in plain sight since the Federation tried to explain the existence of Executioners to civilians."

"Must have been a sight to behold," Fayt observed. At that time, he hadn't been near any of the Federation bases.

"The fact that I knew everything they said was a lie made it hard to swallow, but you can hardly tell everyone God wants them dead." Ryoko shrugged, sitting down again. Fayt followed suit.

"Anyway," she uttered, switching back to the previous topic. "The tournament. All the sponsors and leading men involved in that competition have one thing in common."

"Which is?"

"Federation-owned. And I don't say that lightly. These are guys that would sooner chop off an arm than go against the Federation."

Fayt frowned. What could it mean? Dirna and Solon were involved too. The Federation wouldn't conspire with 4D beings, would it? What was the point? What was the point of the tournament, full stop? He'd just been out to waste time when he entered it.

"In 4D space," Fayt started, figuring his mother might make sense of things, "We went to the battle arena a couple of times. Dirna Hamilton and Solon Solute were in charge of commentary there too."

Ryoko sucked in her breath sharply. "4D beings are involved? That's… worrying. I'll have to look into it."

Fayt nodded. "I'll keep an eye open, too."

"Good boy," his mother told him. "I know what the other eye will be focused on in the meantime."

Fayt didn't grace her comment with a reply.

- - -

Eliza walked around the apartment with the force of a small army. Sophia followed sedately, watching her friend inspect the entire house. It was a strange habit Eliza indulged in, one that Sophia neither understood nor cared much about.

The girl marched out of Sophia's bedroom, sewing basket in hand. She thrust it at Sophia in a manner that might have frightened some.

"You've started knitting again. Scarves and hats with ear holes. Who are you going to give them to? Elves?" Eliza demanded. Sophia was surprised at the girl's aggressive conduct. Sure, she was a little strange, but her behaviour wasn't downright hostile normally.

"What's wrong? You've only been back for five minutes and you're already picking fights? Did something happen at your parents' house?" Sophia asked, trying to keep her voice soothing.

"No," Eliza said through gritted teeth. "_Nothing _happened – which was hellishly boring, but not unexpected. _Something _has happened to you."

Sophia bit her lip. Eliza had been her confidant ever since she moved in, but she'd neglected to mention recent developments over hasty long-distance calls, wanting to keep it for when they were reunited. Perhaps that had been a mistake.

"Sophia, I _know _what happened. You were on television. What I _don't _know is why you're fighting alongside the guy that made you so miserable."

If anything had been in the vicinity of Sophia's mouth, she would've choked on it. "What?!"

"You said he ignored you most of the time when you were travelling together, he'd changed into someone you didn't recognise _and _you'd always come second to any fancy he had even if he loved you, which you doubted. Care to explain?"

Sophia wished the ground would swallow her. Had she really been _that _convinced of some wrong done to her? Or had she simply been trying to convince herself of it? It was easier to deal with unreciprocated love when you felt hard done to.

Couldn't she have suffered _silently_, though?

"For one, it was probably that time of the month when I told you that," Sophia started. She certainly hoped it had been; what other excuse did she have? "Second, I wanted to dislike him. So I could feel justified for abandoning him or something – I liked him too much."

Eliza sighed. She moved to the living room and leaned on the armrest, observing Sophia. "I know all that. You're not very hard to read when you turn off the bubbly aura. Doesn't make whatever he did any better."

"It doesn't?" Sophia couldn't see what kind of authenticity the complaints she'd filed a year ago could retain.

"You were upset, either way."

"Not anymore."

Eliza sighed again, folding her arms. "Fine. Cook for me."

"What?" Sophia asked, an eyebrow rising.

"Don't tell me you haven't got the ingredients for it; I checked the fridge. Now work, woman!"

Sophia obeyed, shaking her head. If Eliza was going to act strangely, who was Sophia not to act along? It would take a harder heart than hers to refuse a long-gone friend some food.

Later, said friend was seated at the table in the kitchen, slouching contentedly after her meal. Sophia joined her in the seat opposite. "Good?" she asked, smiling. Sophia had experimented with spices to achieve a taste that was unusual, but very pleasing to the taste buds.

A nod and a groan answered her question. "I'm stuffed," Eliza uttered, patting her belly. "The meals at home are nothing compared to yours."

She sat up abruptly, looking Sophia in the eye as she spoke. "And I believe you now. Your cooking is better when you're happy."

"It is?"

"Something has to make up for the fact that you hum over the stove whenever you're in a good mood." Eliza shook her head disappointedly, though Sophia didn't miss the small smile on her lips. "If you're happy this way, I won't interfere. You know, charge in with a laser sword, kidnap you away from him. That kind of thing."

"Good to know I have someone looking out for me," Sophia said dryly.

Eliza grinned. "Two someones, if the thousand-and-one clips of you floating around television don't lie."

Sophia hoped so.

- - -

"Another win for Fayt and Sophia! No matter which way the match goes, they always come out on top. Some go so far as to call them invincible. What say you, Solon?" Dirna crowed from the speakers.

"I agree, Dirna. They're in danger of being overwhelmed, but once they're in control, they're in _control_."

Sophia rolled her shoulder, trying to get an uncomfortable stretch out of it. She'd gotten a bit too enthusiastic and had resorted to whacking enemies with her staff whenever they got close. It was a bad idea, partly because it didn't do much damage and partly because it looked ridiculous.

She retracted her hand from her shoulder to curl it around her staff. "Faerie light!" she summoned, healing a party of six that had previously been her opponent. They hadn't been a real challenge; numbers were the only thing they had going for them, though it had gotten them to the fourth match of the tournament. It wasn't beyond Sophia to heal them.

Instead of staying to see if they were thankful or indignant for the help, Sophia and Fayt got out of the arena. After freshening up, they headed towards the back exit. Their progress was halted when they came to the door leading out of the stadium. Fayt opened it only to be blasted backwards by noise and enthusiasm from what seemed like a mob waiting on the other side of it.

Fayt closed the door again, heavy metal clinking shut soundly to block out yells. Sophia didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Well, they've found the back exit," she observed brightly.

Fayt grimaced, though he seemed amused. "Our third match and we're celebrities. How does it feel?"

Sophia held her index finger to the side of her mouth, shifting her weight to one leg thoughtfully. "Let's see… Oh, I know! It feels like there's a large crowd between us and our homes."

They sighed simultaneously. "All right, I'll try again," Fayt said, reopening the door.

The blast of noise was less bad the second time, both being prepared for it. Sophia moved forward into the throng while Fayt held the door open for her. She didn't have the height to actually see what the crowd was comprised of, but it seemed to be a mix of journalists and teenagers. She jumped backwards when a boy she didn't recognise attempted to grab her arm.

Fayt caught her, moving forward to shield her slightly. It wasn't completely successful, but Sophia was less likely to fall prey to random feats of groping. Meanwhile, Fayt had to dodge a few microphones thrust into his face. They stood in the throng for a while as journalists fired inaudible question after inaudible question.

The yells quieted to allow the pair to hear separate questions. "Do you think you'll win the tournament?" one man asked, stuffing his microphone under Fayt's nose.

Fayt smiled politely. "Do you?"

Somehow, this brought on a wave of giggles from the crowd not busy filming or asking questions. Sophia resisted the temptation to roll her eyes.

"What would you do with the prize money?" a blond woman tried, knocking the first man's microphone away with her own. "A holiday for the two of you? An apartment on a resort planet?"

Fayt put his finger on the mic to lower its proximity to his face as he replied. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. There are plenty of other teams who have just as much chance of winning as we do. Now, could we please –"

It was no use. Another barrage of questions interrupted him. It didn't take a genius to see asking to get through would get no one anywhere.

"Fayt," Sophia said quietly. She stood on her tiptoes, placing a hand on Fayt's shoulder to steady herself as she whispered in his ear. "I have an idea. Let's go back inside."

He threw her a doubtful glance, but once a rather desperate looking reporter started tugging on his shirt, he excused himself as he followed Sophia back inside. The door shut once more.

Before Fayt could object, Sophia summoned the power of connection. Her fingers tightened around his arm as she folded space to suit her needs. A little twitch of her power allowed her to step through a portal to her bedroom, pulling Fayt through after her.

His objections fell on deaf ears as she collapsed onto the bed. She wasn't unconscious, but her strength had been sapped in the space of two seconds. A whole lot of effort on her part allowed her to take her shoes off and lie back properly.

Fayt sighed. "I'd like to tell you off about using your powers needlessly."

"But for one, you appreciate it and for another you're not sure I'm in any state to remember it," Sophia replied, eyes closed and smiling.

"Exactly. Why do you get so tired when you use your powers, by the way? Before, it never made you faint or anything."

"I think it's because I didn't really use it on purpose, and if I did I didn't know what I was doing half the time. Besides, changing space is a whole lot harder than just unlocking security codes in the Eternal Sphere," she said, voice soft. A yawn followed her musing. "Do you mind if I sleep? It wasn't that far to teleport; I can try to stay awake. Still…"

She was really tired.

"It may be hard to believe, but I am capable of surviving without you for a few hours," Fayt said dryly. Then, in a completely different voice, he added, "Sleep." His fingers brushed her forehead gently. It was all Sophia could do not to reach out and pull him onto the bed with her.

Would he mind? In the evacuation facility he consented to stay at her bedside. Lying beside her wasn't much more offensive than that, was it? Sophia's fatigued mind wasn't in a state to think anything through, but her body was aware of being too tired to perform any act of force. Weariness was a good reason not to attempt molesting her childhood friend if ever there was one.

Fayt was making such a feat of restraint very hard for her though. Instead of backing off after brushing Sophia's hair back, he leaned in. Sophia tried to keep her breath even, but she knew she was failing miserably. Her eyes shot open.

His fingers had left an invisible trail when they traced her forehead, and his lips followed it almost imperceptibly to plant a soft, lingering kiss on Sophia's skin. Her fists clenched in the covers. It didn't help; before she knew it one hand had come up to cradle his neck.

She half expected him to tear away at the light pressure. Instead, he rested his cheek against her temple. "Sweet dreams," he mumbled.

Well, he'd certainly triggered her imagination with his actions. It wouldn't be hard to have sweet dreams.

- - -

"I never would've guessed, you know."

"Why?"

"Well – if domestic chores were more like hobbies to you, would you be given to that kind of travelling? Though I guess it makes sense. If she's been on the move so much, I can understand that she's learned to appreciate simple things."

"Oh, no, she's always been like that."

A light laugh. "You'd know, huh?"

Sophia lay still, wondering whether she should get out of bed or eavesdrop a little more. She decided to go for the former option, hastening to get out of the clothes she'd slept in and into new ones. The part of the conversation that she'd overheard when she woke up had filled her with a sense of dread. What had her two friends been talking about?

Her, obviously. But what had been said?

She nearly ran into the door in her rush to stop any more confidential information from spreading. After a short session of relearning how to use a door handle, Sophia found herself in the hallway, observing a very homey scene.

Fayt was perched on a bar stool by the worktop while Eliza lay spread out on the couch. The soft light in the room suggested the TV was on, though the sound was muted. Sophia wrinkled her nose. Something wasn't right. Eliza had been at her throat about Fayt earlier, and Fayt wasn't particularly forthcoming when he met total strangers in non-life-threatening situations.

She didn't have time to speculate, because her two friends turned their attention on her once she stepped into the room. "Morning," they said simultaneously.

A quick glance at the clock told Sophia they were lying and that it was, in fact, early evening. Her next glance was directed at Eliza.

Her flatmate had been talking to Fayt while Sophia was sleeping. What if Eliza had told him how Sophia felt? Friends could royally screw one another over under the cover of doing what is best for a friend.

Eliza shook her head and shrugged. She didn't look guilty or mulish or overly casual. Sophia could breathe easily; the relaxed atmosphere in the room wasn't the kind secrets had been spilled in. Whatever truce Fayt and Eliza had agreed to, it hadn't been overly hard for them to make. They seemed almost too comfortable.

"Did I miss anything?" Sophia asked.

"Yeah!" Eliza piped up. "You've missed seeing yourself on every single channel this apartment can afford. Since that solo guy lost, you've become the most popular team. I've been thinking of opening a shop and selling your possessions. With this hype going on, I'll earn millions!"

"It can't be that bad, can it?" Sophia asked, biting her lip anxiously. Her gaze settled on Fayt for an answer.

"It is. I couldn't get to basketball practice because half a dozen reporters wouldn't leave us alone."

"They blocked the road or something? How do you mean?"

"I got there and they were talking to my coach. He told me it might be better not to come to training for a while." Fayt looked depressed.

"You poor thing!" Sophia got onto the bar stool next to his and patted his hand. "But doesn't that mean you were outside? You didn't go back to your own room?"

Eliza sighed, stretching. "You know how these males are. When you need them they're miles away, but when there's a sleeping princess around, they flock."

The corners of Fayt's mouth pointed down. "Hey! I have a conscience!"

His two companions laughed at his protest.

Sophia glanced at the TV, suddenly assailed with an image of herself in the midst of battle. She raised her eyebrows. Eliza, catching the same image, turned the TV off mute.

"–have become two of the tournament's top favourites," a commentator announced, voice low to make his news more exciting. "Most fascinating, perhaps, is their anonymity. While various groups have received global recognition through tournaments over the past few years, Fayt and Sophia seem to have fallen from the sky."

Eliza put the TV back on mute. "That expression is so outdated. Almost everyone on Earth has fallen from the sky at one time or another." She sounded bored.

"I wonder though…" Sophia mused, biting her lip again. "Do you think it'll blow over? It'll be hard if this keeps on. I don't want to fall behind when school starts again."

"You're two years ahead," Fayt told her logically. "But I agree." The sad expression on his face was testimony to his thoughts swinging back to his missed basketball training.

"Hey, cheer up you two!" Eliza piped up. "You're alive, more or less healthy, and you're going to be rich no matter what happens. All you have to do is smile and wave."

Sophia didn't expect that to be quite as true as it turned out to be.

- - -

The sun was blazing overhead once more. Fayt ducked his head, wishing he'd bleached his hair instead of dyeing it a darker colour. The new hue adorning his head had a way of catching sunlight and holding it until Fayt was sure having his scalp scraped off would be pleasurable.

That said, it did help to have a less catchy hair colour. So far no one had recognised him, though Fayt was aware of double takes from various people. They shrugged it off as a passing resemblance and walked on. Fayt was thankful. The amount of attention he and Sophia were receiving seriously hampered them in daily activities. Five matches into the tournament and normal things like going to the supermarket became nearly impossible.

Fayt halted in the shadow of a book stall, the tent-like structure forming a temporary respite from the blazing sun. Racks of paperbacks and audio books lined the counter above the glossy magazines on display. Fayt was about to walk on when a familiar face on the cover of one caught his eye.

_What..?_ he thought, staring at a picture of Sophia. He picked the magazine up and read the front.

_Photo shoot with Sophia Esteed_, bubblegum pink letters announced. Fayt flipped to the appropriate page, feeling like there was a lump in his stomach. What had Sophia been doing?

The pictures weren't distasteful for all that they made Fayt's throat ache. She'd been photographed in various outfits and various poses, all of which were innocent and stunning at the same time. A little text on one of the pictures said Sophia was like 'the cute girl next door,' and that seemed to be the theme. Despite the theme's innocence, Fayt nearly fell over when he realised there was a Sophia pin-up in the middle of the magazine. He unfolded it with a sense of dread, only to be practically bowled over yet again.

Sophia in the middle of a bunch of kittens. It figured. She was wearing a pale pink shift, a fluffy white kitten on one shoulder and a few of its relatives sprawled over her legs as she knelt on a cushion, looking blissfully happy.

Fayt could effortlessly imagine the scene that played between her and the magazine's editor when he asked her to appear in the weekly. She'd be shopping, maybe, and the photographer would approach and propose a photo shoot. He'd offer money. Sophia would be hesitant. She might refuse. Then the photographer would conjure a cute little kitten from his front pocket and he'd say something like "Come along now! We'll let you play with the little kitties…" and Sophia would follow blindly.

An exasperated sigh escaped Fayt's lips. The store owner looked up at him. "That's the last of those we've got," he said proudly. "They're selling like hotcakes."

"I can imagine," Fayt replied dryly.

"Would you like to buy it?" the salesman inquired cheerfully. He put his hands on the counter and leaned forward towards Fayt. Then his mouth slackened. "Wait a moment!"

Fayt wrinkled his nose. If the man revealed Fayt's identity, there would be a rush of people asking him questions and ready to follow him home.

Instead, the boss of the stall rested his chin on his hand, looking at Fayt. "Don't suppose you need one of those mags, huh?" he observed, grinning.

It would be easier to confront Sophia with her actions if he had the offending object in hands, but he wasn't planning to hang a Sophia pin-up above his bed, charming as it was. "No, not particularly." He allowed himself a wry grin.

"She's a cute girl," the store owner remarked. "You related?"

Fayt shook his head.

"Didn't think so. You know, my wife is crazy about you."

What does a person do when told someone else's wife is crazy about them? Run? Fayt resisted. "Um, thanks, I guess."

"Hey, hey, no hard feelings. If it wasn't you it'd be some other guy. Hey, can you sign this?" The guy held a store card up. "I'll understand if you don't."

Fayt shrugged. "No, it's all right. Thanks for not blowing my cover."

"I hear all the contestants are having it pretty hard at the moment. The Klausian girl was admitted to hospital because some barman stuffed an elephant's sufficiency of date rape drugs in her drink. Even a Klausian can't handle that much without a twitch. She must've been pretty drunk though. No one can slip an alert Klausian any kind of drug without needing plastic surgery afterwards. I'd keep an eye out for your friend if I were you," the store owner rattled as Fayt wrote a little note for his wife.

Fayt listened attentively as the man told him about various mishaps occurring to other contestants. Before the end of it, Fayt was desperate to get to Sophia's apartment and at least _attempt _to get her to swear not to leave home for the coming weeks.

He took his leave of the store owner, waving as he walked away. His feet took him to the nearest transporter, which conveniently dropped him off on Sophia's street. He rushed over there, ready to slay dragons and shifty miscreants alike.

Instead, everything was perfectly in order. Fayt unlocked the front door and entered. He heard Sophia from the living room. "Fayt?" she called. Thudding footsteps told him she was rushing to the hallway.

When she saw him, her happy expression turned to one of shock. "Fayt! Fayt – your – your _hair_!"

Fayt swiped a hand through it awkwardly. "It's less conspicuous."

Sophia seemed distraught. She flung herself forward to touch the offending, dark brown locks. "But it's not _you_!" Her distress led her to emphasise her words.

It was hard to think straight with someone patting and pulling his hair, but Fayt managed to form a reply. "It'll wash out – eventually – "

"Right _now_!" Sophia demanded, suddenly pushy. She dragged him to the bathroom. Fayt followed haplessly, forgetting the reason he'd come in the first place. When Sophia started acting with any kind of determination, she was a sight to behold and a force to reckon with.

"Hey!" he protested weakly. "What are you doing?"

"I'm washing it out," Sophia announced, throwing a pink towel around Fayt's shoulders and making him sit with his head over the edge of the bath tub.

Fayt looked up at her as she poured water over his hair. "It's handy, you know. Almost no one recognised me in town."

Sophia didn't halt her actions. "That's nice."

"You won't get it out anyway," Fayt told her. He knew from his mother's exploits that dye didn't take well to blue hair, but it would take more than just one wash to get the colour out, no matter what.

Sophia's shoulders slumped. Fayt caught sight of her eyebrows scrunched together sadly and a miserable downward turn to her lips that dragged any beholder to sympathise with her. He reached out to touch her face. "Hey, what's wrong? The world will keep turning no matter what colour my hair is."

She put the showerhead away and started rubbing shampoo into Fayt's hair. Despite the conflicted expression on her face, her actions were gentle. Fayt felt himself relax, hand dropping.

"I… you look so different," Sophia uttered by way of explanation. He didn't think it was a good reason to go rampant, but her ministrations felt too good for him to complain.

She rinsed the shampoo, then applied another load of it. Fayt wondered whether she was dedicating an entire bottle of shampoo to his cause. It certainly felt that way.

Sophia rubbed his hair dry gently after a last rinse, as if in apology for her spastic behaviour. Fayt was suddenly reminded of his reason for storming into the house in the first place.

"You're in no state to complain about changing," Fayt told her, sitting cross-legged. Sophia knelt in front of him, looking surprised.

"I'm not?"

"You were in a magazine."

Sophia looked embarrassed. "You saw that?" She started fiddling with the rug.

Fayt wanted to scold her, but her humiliation at him seeing the pictures made him feel sorry for her. "Why did you do it?"

"It wasn't anything bad! But I lost my job some time ago and I have to pay rent. Besides, they were so enthusiastic, I just couldn't say no. And they had kitties…" Sophia looked up, smiling shyly.

An exasperated sigh escaped Fayt, followed by a smile. He couldn't help it. Sophia wasn't someone he could stay angry at for any length of time. Not that he'd been angry. He'd just been – what, actually? Annoyed? Concerned? It didn't matter.

Sophia was bolstered by Fayt's expression. "I wouldn't do any stupid photo shoots! When I got another offer to – well – to pose in a different sort of magazine, I refused. And I don't give interviews or anything. I won't say anything about 4D or Luther either –"

Fayt held his finger to Sophia's lips. "You're babbling."

She ducked her head. "Sorry."

The front door slammed shut. Sophia and Fayt jumped at the loud noise. Eliza's voice floated from the hallway. "I'm back!"

"We're here!" Sophia shouted back.

"We?" Eliza inquired as she came to the bathroom. She paused outside. "I'm not disturbing anything, am I?"

Fayt was amused to see Sophia's cheeks colour. "Is the door locked?" she retaliated.

Eliza stepped into the bathroom, a grin plastered on her face. "Nope!" She observed the two of them. "Nice hat," she said to Fayt.

Belatedly, he realised he had a pink towel draped over his head uselessly. He removed it.

Sophia groaned while Eliza gasped. "It did no good at _all_," the former lamented.

Fayt shot her a wry look. "Sure it did. I've never smelled so strongly of peaches in my entire life."

His friend pouted. "Could we please go buy something to discolour it? Please?"

"Why are you so adamant about me having blue hair? I told you; this hair colour attracts a lot less attention."

"And it makes you look older!" Eliza piped up.

"And it makes me look older –" Fayt started to agree, before shutting up. "Why is that a good thing?"

Eliza shrugged. "Beats me."

Fayt shook his head. "Anyway, I don't think it matters."

"But I do," Sophia declared.

Fayt looked at his friend, deciding he would never completely understand her. Sometimes she was soft and easily pressured, with an air of frailty that said she could break at any given moment. At other times, she was assertive and unstoppable. The former state had been especially apparent during the journey to beat Luther, sometimes overshadowed by her strength when she found a way to discard hesitation. Recently, Sophia had let the latter state emerge more often. Of course, the calm and gentle manner in the middle of Sophia's two extremes was usually the most apparent. How did she do it? How could she juggle personalities like that?

He sighed. It was hard for Fayt not to be pushed into doing anything she told him to do whenever she felt strongly about something. That said, he didn't particularly mind what colour his hair was, though discolouring it immediately was a waste of dye. Besides, it _had _helped, if only a little.

It seemed Sophia had decided to use her puppy dog eyes, a tactic he hadn't seen for a long time. He held up his hands as if to ward her off. "Fine, fine. Let's go."

Eliza and Sophia had identical grins on their faces, the former later mouthing something that looked like 'sucker'. Fayt sighed. He'd be stubborn when the situation called for it; for now, he was just being nice.

Just being nice.

- - -

Sophia's legs were killing her. No amount of fighting had prepared her for a headlong sprint through the city streets, dodging bodies left and right. Fayt tugged her hand, urging her to run faster. She stumbled, but didn't fall.

"I can't –" she panted, not sure whether the words reached him. Her lungs were on fire.

Eliza was stumbling too, and Sophia tugged her hand in turn. Her friend's face was ruddy with exertion, sweaty blond hair sticking to bright red cheeks. Eliza's grip on her hand slackened. "Hey, I don't even have to run!" she protested, her voice a poorly veiled wheeze.

Eliza had a point. When someone had spotted them on the street, the observer had pointed and shouted. Somehow, it triggered a chain reaction that developed into a whole mob running to them. Instinct took over and they fled, Sophia reaching to drag Eliza along with them.

"I'll – distract!" Eliza stated, somehow getting her meaning across. At the next turn, Fayt and Sophia clattered into an alley while Eliza convinced the crowd that the pair had continued down another street. Sophia watched her friend run with the rest of the mob.

The first impression she got of her surroundings once she stopped watching the commotion was that the place was _old_, with red brick and asphalt and an iron staircase that seemed half rusted. There was no sign of technology anywhere near, though it couldn't be too far from the city centre. She and Fayt huddled beneath the staircase, catching their breath. Sophia was chagrined when she noticed he barely needed time to do so.

"That was sudden," he observed, already able to talk normally. "I don't know why I ran."

Sophia nodded but didn't say anything, still out of breath. She hoped the people on the street wouldn't notice them.

Just then, Fayt's communicator started ringing shrilly. She and Fayt froze for a moment. No one noticed though, and they breathed easily once again. Fayt flipped the machine open.

"Mum?" he greeted, one eyebrow raised.

Sophia didn't hear the reply, the sound of blood rushing through her ears too loud to listen in on the conversation. She contented herself with watching Fayt's face and guessing what was up by that. He raised both eyebrows when he saw her looking. She shrugged.

"Oh?" he uttered, attention back on the communicator. Sophia didn't like the frown forming on his face. "Wait a second. I'll put it on speaker so she can hear."

Fayt held out the communicator between them, looking at her seriously. "Mum's found out more about the chip." Sophia nodded.

Ryoko's voice came from the device clearly, as if she was sitting right next to them. "Hi, Sophia. How have you been?"

"Fine, thanks. Please – what did you find out?"

They heard Ryoko sigh. "Apparently, the sensitivity for Vendeen presences was just a side-effect, not an actual function. The main purpose of the chip, besides tracking, was to halt aggressive advances."

"Huh?" Sophia uttered, suddenly confused. "But the Vendeeni wanted me to wake up –"

"Would they admit a flaw if their device had one? But hush a moment. There's something I really don't understand. This chip – if it senses killing intent, or even the intent to do serious harm, it will lock all muscles, paralysing its bearer. Now, if what I've heard is true, that should've seriously hampered you in 4D."

"I don't get that either," Sophia replied. "I had a phase of – shaking – but even then I could keep going. I wasn't ever locked in place or anything."

Fayt glanced at her, then back to the communicator. "Could it be that the chip couldn't lock her muscles and just made her shake?"

"I doubt the shaking had anything to do with the chip," Ryoko intoned, making Sophia blush. Embarrassing. "This is Vendeen stuff – just because there's a side effect doesn't mean that it's not the height of efficiency. If there had been killing intent, Sophia would be frozen where she stood."

Fayt and Sophia looked at each other, both bewildered.

Ryoko's sigh could be heard through the communicator. "Anyway, that's my mystery. I'll see if there's anything else to find out. In the meantime, stew over that. I know you will, Fayt!"

Sophia grinned weakly. If there was anything to worry about, it would be foremost in Fayt's mind. "Bye," she and Fayt said simultaneously. Fayt snapped the communicator shut, the look on his face already testimony to the clockworks ticking in his brain.

"Well," she tried optimistically. "There's no use worrying about it anymore." She twirled a lock of Fayt's brown hair between her fingers, the whole reason for coming out to the shops. "Come on, we should go home. Let's re-blue you before next match."

_That _match.


	9. That Match

Title: To Claim and Reclaim

A/N: Wow, when I updated last was right before Valentines Day, too. Coincidence? I think not! (Actually… yeah, pretty much. You can thank (or blame, as the case may be) for reviewing and reminding me this story still existed.) I've got two more chapters written after this – just have to go over them a bit. At one point during the chapter I randomly switched to first person, then started back in third person a few sentences later. I must have been half asleep. Let's hope I've fixed all my horrid mistakes!

Claimer: In the previous two years I have bought all Tri-Ace's games, muahaha.

Disclaimer: The above is a lie.

* * *

**That Match**

The noise from the crowd penetrated the waiting room, wild screams and mad cheers making already nervous contestants wipe sweaty hands off on their clothes yet again. Despite the air-conditioning being on full blast, the amount of stress being generated made the room seem hot.

Sophia tugged her hair back anxiously, blowing out. Deep breaths. She didn't know when the tournament had ceased to be a fun pastime and had started to really matter. All she could do was blame it on the fact that she'd betted her feelings on the upcoming match. If they won, she'd tell Fayt how she felt. If they lost – well, she'd hidden it long enough. A few more years wouldn't do her any harm.

No one had to tell her it was stupid. She'd figured that one out for herself.

"Are you okay?" Fayt inquired, ever concerned. He didn't seem nervous at all. Sophia couldn't help but wonder whether that was due to skill or confidence. Maybe it was both.

She nodded. "Just a little nervous."

Torrents of applause and a renewed amount of decibels spilling through the air signalled the end of the previous match. Sophia looked at the two other teams, surprised when neither made any move to get out onto the field.

"Um, which one of you is fighting us?" she inquired before she could repress the question. She hadn't meant to say it aloud; the other teams still remaining in the competition scared her.

"Not us," several voices droned. The contestants glanced at each other, each wondering who the opponent was if they weren't.

"We'll see," Fayt said, motioning Sophia. "Maybe someone in the team got hurt."

Contestants from the previous match trudged through the waiting room, dripping with sweat and avoiding eye contact. Sophia could feel her blood thrumming through her veins, excitement thick in her throat. Time to get going.

She batted the curtain out of the way, preceding Fayt in her hurry to get the fight over with. It wasn't until they'd both reached the stage that she remembered there was no opposing team. Solon confirmed it moments later.

"Well, it seems we have a withdrawal, wouldn't you say?"

Dirna sounded concerned. "Do you think they were stopped from coming here?"

"Who knows? The rules say the team has five minutes to show up. Will we have a special entrance, a late arrival or a show of cowardice? Stay seated guys; the show's not over yet."

Sophia's prior excitement faded. She glanced at Fayt. "What do we do now?"

Fayt regarded the sky, then looked at the crowd gathered all around to watch the match despite the heat. He folded his arms. "Maybe we should go back to the waiting room," he said.

But when they turned to go, they saw there was someone coming from the waiting room. A slender man was making his way towards the two lost contestants, a clipping board in his hands and his spectacles bobbing up and down from the brisk pace he set. He was breathing heavily when he reached Fayt and Sophia.

"Hi," he started. "I'm Ray. Solon sent me to tell you the other team backed out. They're keeping up the show because, officially, we do have to wait for five minutes."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Sophia asked him.

"Well, that's what I'm here for. All the teams near the stadium are being requested to mingle with the audience. These people paid good money for their tickets; we want to keep them happy. They came here to see you fight, and now that's been cancelled."

"Can't you just give them tickets to our next match? Or let the next match begin?" Fayt didn't seem eager to mingle with the crowd.

Ray shook his head. "We could've in the beginning, but now tickets are being sold separately. The closer we get to the finals, the more we need the matches. Now that people have favorites and place bets, these withdrawals are a problem."

Sophia shrugged. "I think it'll be fine. Let's do it, Fayt."

He looked at her, his eyebrows drawn together. "Are you sure?"

She nodded.

"Great!" Ray exclaimed, his face lighting up. "The other teams will be mingling too, so you won't have to talk to _everyone_. Just try to make it worth their while. Tickets are expensive!"

Fayt and Sophia nodded. They jumped off the stage just as Solon and Dirna started explaining the situation from the overhead speakers. Some people in the audience looked disappointed, but they were outnumbered by people who started jumping up and down and waving to the teams approaching the bleachers. The popular Klausian team was present for the fourth match that day, and the crowd got louder when they appeared.

Sophia craned her neck trying to keep an eye on them. Fayt noticed.

"Apparently, someone tried to drug the girl," he told her. Sophia's eyes widened. "She looks pale, but she's right back on her feet. Typical Klausian."

Sophia smiled. "Maybe we can ask them for a good Klausian saying if we see them again. You never did remember to look a few up for Cliff."

Fayt smiled back, but he looked distracted. He blinked a couple of times before asking, "Sophia? How many matches are left until the final?"

She shrugged. "Why?"

"Because it looks like our next match will be semi-finals if these are all that's left of the teams."

They'd arrived at the bleachers and were forced to abandon conversation, not able to hear much over the people shouting for autographs and pictures. Fayt and Sophia obliged.

Slowly, they made their way around the bleachers. They'd started on the right and were slowly making their way to the left side of the audience. About three quarters of the way there, they had the good fortune of meeting up with the Klausian team. They didn't communicate, but Sophia had the feeling both teams felt gratitude to each other; while they toured together, the attention was split between the two of them. It went faster from there on, until Fayt and Sophia were standing on the ground again, talking to a mother and her two children in the front row.

"Hi there," Sophia said to the little girl, smiling. After so many people leaping for her attention, she felt a surge of affection for the girl, who blushed and hid her face shyly. Her brother, slightly older, was less afflicted by shyness. He leaned forward, almost going nose-to-nose with Fayt.

"Fayt, how did you get strong?" he asked eagerly. "Did you train every day?"

Sophia looked at the pair of them. She wondered whether Fayt would answer the question; they'd had a policy of no answers before, when they were asked interview-like questions. Still, there wasn't any harm in answering a little boy's question.

The boy's mother drew her son back and scolded him gently. Fayt smiled. "I did train every day, but I wouldn't recommend it."

The little girl stopped covering her face and stared at Sophia. "Mommy said you and Fayt love each other," she blurted, her face turning red. "But daddy says you would hug and kiss more if you did."

The girl's mother was blushing almost as fiercely as the girl. Sophia tried to be tactful about it. "Well, your mommy's right," she told the girl. "Fayt and I are very, very good friends. We've known each other our whole lives."

The boy butted in, ready to drop tales of strength in favor of romance on this one occasion. "Of course they don't hug and kiss," he said loudly. "That's for girls."

His mother looked amused. "Oh, so do the girls go around kissing each other all their lives?" she asked him. He just wrinkled his nose. The woman looked up from her disgusted son, her gaze fixed on the two contestants in front of her. "I admire that you can hide so much from the media," she told them softly. "But it must be horrid not to be able to be a normal couple in public because some fool is going to put it in a magazine. I've seen some of the things they write."

" 'Those magazines should be ashamed, not Fayt and Sophia,'" her daughter quoted brightly, before remembering her shyness and mumbling that it was what her mommy said. Her mother smiled.

A teenage couple behind the mother and her children was nodding. "They don't know when to lay off," the teen girl said, her bright pink hair leaving more of an impression than her face. "I hate those kinds of things. Fucking vultures."

The mother covered her daughter's ears with a look of shock.

The girl's boyfriend looked thoughtful. "But, you know, it sucks even more that you're too chicken to do anything in front of people, just 'cause some idiot is going to put it in a magazine. Who cares? Are you afraid the popularity ratings will drop? Big deal."

Fayt folded his arms. Sophia looked up at him embarrassedly. She didn't know whether she liked or disliked the way everyone judged the situation. In the past, she'd revelled in being mistaken for Fayt's girlfriend. Now she just wished the assumptions were true, and felt uncomfortable because they weren't.

"Too chicken, hm?" Fayt echoed, looking foreboding. Of course, that was from where Sophia stood. He was below the teen boy, so it was probably less impressive up there.

"Prove me wrong," the teen said, grinning.

The mother in the first row started objecting. "Now really, just for the sake of a challenge –" She stopped talking when Fayt turned to Sophia and reached out, drawing her to him by her elbow. She allowed it, moving towards him curiously.

"What is it?" she asked kindly, though her blood seemed to be rushing through her body at twice its normal speed.

"Sophia…"

She found it hard to meet his eyes with the way just a glance at them made her breath catch. A part of her knew that he did not regard her just as a friend. It was in the soft touch of his fingers on her arm; the way he looked at her as if there was no one else around. Modesty could only make her oblivious to a certain extent, and it had already been stretching itself. She knew. She just couldn't believe it. It had been a dream through high school _and _university. What happened when dreams came true?

Fayt leaned down and touched his lips to hers. The soft, nearly insubstantial sensation sent shivers through Sophia. When he drew her towards him and cupped her face, she leaned in without a second thought. Time could have stopped and she wouldn't have noticed; the crowd's noise was drowned out by the rushing in her ears.

Fayt close to her. Fayt holding her. Fayt kissing her.

A whole crowd of people watching.

They broke apart, and Sophia would have stumbled if Fayt wasn't holding her arm, steadying her. Someone whistled. The teen boy who had called Fayt chicken was grinning and cheering, his girlfriend smiling dreamily beside him. The mother with the two children smiled indulgently, while her daughter seemed embarrassed and her son looked horribly confused. Other people in the crowd had witnessed the kiss, and Sophia – through her haze of blushing – could see that some spectators looked gratified, others looked shocked and still others observed as if they were watching a mildly entertaining movie.

Sophia's insides seemed to be twisting inside of her, the vibrant feeling disappearing. Had people placed bets? Discussed and argued about her and Fayt's relationship?

She couldn't look at Fayt. Her gaze followed his hands, but she couldn't look away from his face when those hands came up to lift her chin. Fayt looked the same way he had when he confessed his feeling of guilt about the Vendeeni coming for him and killing so many in the process. Sophia's quivering insides seemed to steady at the comparison. She hardly thought kissing her in front of an audience warranted such an expression of worry.

A weak smile formed on her face. It disappeared a second later. "I have to go for a moment," she said.

He nodded and let go, watching as she left the arena. Sophia's heart beat at an abnormally fast pace, even when she was blocks away from the stadium. She noticed she was making her way to her apartment. If she went there, she might run into Eliza. Sophia was not in the mood to run into anyone; she needed time to herself.

Another second of thought brought the idea of going into a battle simulator to her. Fayt had told her she could use his whenever she wanted. It was attached to his room near the university, a place she could enter at will. She knew where he hid the key.

A fight ought to do her good.

X x x

Fayt was anxious. He'd been imprisoned and tortured, had violated the UP3 half a million times, had defeated the Creator in full knowledge of what he was doing, and yet his palms turned sweaty at the sight of Sophia's retreating back.

He didn't allow his feelings to show, accepting comments from the audience with a sheepish half-smile. Eventually he could take his leave, telling everyone he'd better go and find the other half of his team.

In truth, he had no idea where she'd gone or whether she even wanted to see him. He was tempted to check whether she was at her apartment, but the thought that she didn't want to see him kept him from taking the teleporter to her street. Instead, he went home, feeling as if all the dragons in Barr had taken residence in his stomach and were writhing around in anguish.

It hadn't _seemed _wrong, to him. The same adrenaline that coursed through him before a fight had started streaming through his body when she finally met his eyes. She looked – different. And when he kissed her, she'd pressed herself against him as if she'd been waiting for the moment a long time, too. But if that was true, why did she leave so suddenly?

Fayt opened the door to his room, surprised to find it unlocked. His roommate was still supposed to be on holiday. When he saw that all the clothes that had been lying haphazardly on the floor were in the place he'd left them, but folded neatly, he knew that the intruder wasn't his roommate.

"Sophia?" he asked cautiously, stepping over a few notebooks. She didn't respond. He headed into the small, cluttered kitchen, but she wasn't there either.

When he realized where she must be, he headed for the transporter. It was an old-fashioned thing, programmed to take a person to one specific place, but that was all Fayt needed. He stepped into it and arrived at the battle simulator he and his roommate shared. Trepidation filled him when he saw that it was active.

He entered the simulator without ending the game, though he knew the system often crashed when he did so. His roommate could get horribly upset about it. This time it didn't crash, though there was an electronic ripple in the virtual reality. It ended when the door closed behind Fayt.

What he saw inside confused him to no end. Sophia was fighting him, and he was winning. She looked battered.

He ran up to himself, barely aware of drawing his sword. Jumping, then bringing the blade down on his opponent's weapon, Fayt landed next to Sophia just in time. She looked up, shocked. Fayt finished his computerized self off quickly, the confusion of seeing Sophia fight his likeness spurring him on, impatience for the answer giving him an extra edge.

When his evil twin was lying on the ground with a gaping wound in his chest, Fayt turned to Sophia. "What were you thinking?" he asked, voice harsher than he meant it to be.

She looked impossibly meek, and he regretted his words instantly.

"I'm sorry," she said hesitantly, staring at the bloodied body on the grass. The environment was peaceful: a sunny day in some anonymous meadow, a stream trickling in the distance. Fayt shook his head, wondering what had possessed her. He may have scared her earlier, but – was that worth trying to kill him in a battle simulator? And if she had wanted to kill him, couldn't she have picked a stormy environment, at least? There was something wrong with childhood friends being stuck in a life or death battle on a lovely, summer's day.

"Why?" he asked.

She seemed unable to move her eyes from his corpse, so he turned her around and walked her a few paces away from it. She kept her face down, looking at her feet. Her feet were turning inwards again, a sure sign that she felt frightened. No amount of physiotherapy could cure her walk once she reverted back to this insecure Sophia.

"I – I'd never heard about the simulator creating character profiles before. When I saw you were in it, I figured I could – I could see, well, whether I measured up at all. I was just curious! I had no idea it would… would…"

She was so small. Impossibly small, with the way her shoulders rounded when she was in this state, her tiny hands writhing together and the toes of her bright pink boots turned towards each other. Despite that, Fayt breathed a sigh of relief. She had only wanted to test her strength, not kill him.

Feeling light-headed with the realization, he picked up her hands and held them up, forcing her to release her tense, timid posture. Her light green eyes finally met his, wide and scared.

"I didn't think…" she trailed off, looking away. It was silent for a long moment before she continued. "For some reason, I didn't think someone who looked like you would fight me like that."

She met his stare with tears in her eyes.

It felt like a Klausian had kicked him square in the stomach. He'd seen her cry before, but it had been so long since the last time, excepting the times that pain brought involuntary tears to her eyes. For a moment, he hovered between his clueless self and the self that was and had always been her childhood friend. The latter won out, and he managed to pull her to him in a hug, making sure not to smother her. He stroked her back gently, even though it made her shake.

Fayt knew she was crying, he just didn't know why. He guessed that it had scared her to have his likeness attack her with no mercy whatsoever. Sometimes, her logic left something to be desired – virtual creatures in battle simulators had no feelings, everyone knew that. She'd been foolish not to think her move through, but he felt no reason to scold her, especially while she was standing within his embrace with quiet sobs shaking her body. She regretted her actions more than enough.


	10. Ballrooms and Alleys

Title: To Claim and Reclaim

A/N: What did I promise? :3 Here it is. Long chapter this time. In case I don't update before Valentines Day, I hope all of your guys' love interests have the courage to fess up and give you all a great Valentine. You guys deserve it. Thanks for the great reviews – they helped me greatly improve this chapter.

Disclaimer: Star Ocean 3 is not mine.

* * *

**Ballrooms and Alleys**

Sophia hoped never to be an idiot again, though she was doubtful that her wish for common sense would ever come true. What kind of first-class imbecile went into a battle simulator hoping to speak to one of its creations? How did the name of the machine not tip her off that said machine had a singularly violent purpose?

_Stupid, stupid, stupid_.

And yet, it had seemed so logical. Wouldn't a simulator's character profile be an exact copy of the character? It appeared like the perfect opportunity to practice telling Fayt how she felt. If the character reacted well, she would know her path. If he didn't – well, it would be easier to be rejected by a computerized version of Fayt. She would exit the battle simulator and try to convince herself that the kiss had been an answer to a challenge, and nothing more.

Sophia's eyes were dry, but her body continued to shake – anger filled the void that shock and horror left behind. She wanted to send fireballs at the team that had forfeited, or ice needles, or maybe run after the cowards with Efreet's fire in her body. Careless contestants! They'd ruined her plans when they withdrew.

Raging at the other team was ridiculous, and she knew it. A moan escaped her as her mind returned to berating herself. Fayt's arms tightened around her. What must he be thinking? The worst kind of thoughts. That she hated him for the kiss, that he had angered her… Now she would really have to make the first step, resolve things. Her reaction could not be sending out the right message.

Shaking turned into trembling as she repressed the urge to raise her face up and kiss him. She wouldn't even have to do that much. The words were simple. _Kiss me again_. They stuck in her throat nonetheless, dying before they reached her mouth.

After a long sigh, she stepped away from Fayt, tugging at her clothes self-consciously. Behind him she saw the corpse of his double, lying in a pool of its own blood. She acknowledged that its violence towards her would give her more than a few nightmares.

A Fayt with no personality. A Fayt that did not hold back, and attacked her with as much ruthlessness as a fiend when she was about to lay her heart bare to it. However, no matter how much those images scared her, the worst image was that of Fayt lying on the grass limply, glassy-eyed, a gaping wound in his chest. The real, living Fayt didn't seem to recognize its dreadfulness.

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking at her in the old, familiar way. This was the Fayt that could observe her stubbing her toe and worry that her leg was broken.

"The sooner he goes away, the sooner I'll be okay," she answered embarrassedly, flapping a hand at corpse Fayt. Following her statement, they exited the simulator and made their way to Fayt's room. As the immediate threat of seeing Fayt's corpse again disappeared, she began to formulate what she would tell him to explain her actions. All her clever explanations came down to: _I love you, but I'm too chicken to tell you. I wanted a trial run._ Fayt's posture was rigid as he led the way. She had to tell him – explain –

Her hand reached of its own accord. Her fingers touched Fayt's arm, and he stopped as if she'd yanked it. He looked around, his eyes wide. Hopeful. Sophia opened her mouth to say something, anything, ready to make everything right again.

A knock sounded on the door before even a syllable had crossed Sophia's numb lips. By the frequency and volume, Sophia gathered that it was not the first time the person was knocking. He was impatient, and the sound of his pacing followed the knock.

Fayt wrenched the door open. "Yes?"

Ray, the secretary guy from before, stood there, looking hassled. "I'm sorry, Fayt – Sophia – it was urgent that you got the message as soon as possible."

Fayt and Sophia stood in the doorway, observing the man with twin looks of anticipation. It made him look even more uncomfortable.

"The team you were going to face next dropped out too," he told them flatly. "And the one the Klausians were facing after their match today. That's two good matches ruined, and you're in the finals by default."

He seemed upset, and the emotion was infectious. The tournament had become important to both contestants, and the thought of missing a match was disheartening. Who knew what would happen once the tournament was over? Sophia didn't want things to go back to the way they were before Fayt had reappeared in her life – not that she thought they ever could.

"And when are the finals?" Fayt asked.

"Three days' time. But before that – "

"Why did the other teams drop out?" Sophia interrupted.

Ray rubbed his palms off on his jeans. "Strange reasons. They'd heard rumors about some weird goings-on within the organization. Don't ask me what they heard: I don't know, and if I did, I wouldn't tell you. Suffice to say I don't think it's worth exiting the tournament."

"So what's going to happen?" Fayt asked.

"The finalist ceremony is going to be held tomorrow night."

"What?" Fayt sounded perplexed. "Why? This doesn't make any sense. The schedule may be off, but why would you go out of your way to throw it even more off-balance?"

Ray was silent, looking self-conscious.

"You're not allowed to tell us," Fayt stated. The flicker in Ray's eyes was a clear 'yes'.

"They're afraid the remaining teams – us and the Klausians – will drop out, too, if they wait any longer. There's a good reason behind the other teams dropping out, Fayt." Sophia heard the trepidation in her own voice. "Something that would make us drop, too, if we knew."

"I don't know about that," Ray said. "Their reasons really are unknown – to me, anyway. I'm just trying to do my job. A job I probably won't keep if you two abandon the tournament…"

Fayt eyed him with a hint of annoyance. "We'll stay in the tournament. There's no need to make us feel guilty."

Ray's eyes lighted up. "Really? So you'll come with me?"

"Wait, what?"

"You have to be prepared for the ceremony, if it's tomorrow evening. Duh." Secured of his position, Ray dropped the formalities – not that there had been many of them in the first place.

"We have to leave now?" Fayt shot Sophia an unreadable glance. She caught his mood. They needed time to work things out. Not just between them, but they needed to discuss the potential danger of staying in the tournament. There was something sinister going on. There probably had been from the start.

Then it hit her. Of course. It wasn't enough for the organization to move the final match forward. It needed to keep its candidates busy, needed to shelter those crucial contestants to further ensure that they would have no chance to hear the reason the other teams dropped. Sophia saw the same realization dawn in Fayt's eyes. They looked at each other with apprehension. What were they getting themselves into?

Despite their doubts, Fayt and Sophia left with Ray. He told them not to bring anything. Sophia glanced down at her battle outfit, trying not to worry. This probably meant they would be allowed home before the ceremony, if only to grab a change of clothes.

Ray led them to a shuttle parked close to Fayt's apartment, then proceeded to drive them… somewhere. Sophia realized she didn't know where they were going.

"It's like any award ceremony, really," Ray was saying. "Nothing special, no fighting. Just fancy clothes, dancing, and speeches."

"Why do they have it before the winners are known?" Sophia asked, puzzled. "Doesn't it make more sense to have it afterwards?"

"Media coverage," Ray answered with a wry smile. "It's more interesting to viewers if they don't know what the outcome will be. Don't worry, the producers will make sure you look good while you're there – they're paying for your wardrobe. And dance classes, should you need them."

There went the chance to grab another set of clothes.

Fayt snorted while Sophia frowned. Ballroom dancing… She and Fayt had learned some of the basic dances in preparation for another award ceremony, with his father as the guest of honor. That was two years ago, though, and she didn't know if she could remember everything. All she could really remember was her annoyance during the ceremony. Fayt had looked bored during the dances, and the only thing he wanted to talk about was basketball. It was the start of a new season, and he was missing an important game. He told her that whenever she remarked upon how exciting everything was, and how interesting the people.

Had it been Cliff who transformed that Fayt into this one? Though Sophia had never been able to bear grudges against Fayt for long, she realized now that his treatment of her had often been less than perfect. He was often lost in his own little world.

While the three of them whizzed past other flying traffic, Sophia pondered the memory of ballroom dancing. That Fayt had been self-absorbed, and so had the Fayt on Hyda IV. Somehow, though, Sophia had been sad to see how Fayt had changed when she met him on Elicoor II. He'd become more responsible. He was focused and considerate, far more so than he had been on Earth. Sure, Fayt had always been there to flatter and appease Sophia, but there was always an air of reluctance to it. Nothing she wanted him to do was ever what he wanted to do – he would rather fight in a battle simulator than swim with her. She sighed. Why couldn't she have continued blindly, thinking of the Elicoor II Fayt as the wrongdoer? She realized that he'd improved for the better in the course of his journey – and somehow that had made her move away from him. Maybe it was because she had already been in love with the old Fayt, no matter how many flaws he had.

"What are you thinking?" Fayt asked cautiously.

"Ballroom dancing. That night they held in honor of your father, you looked bored the entire time, even when we were on the dance floor. You'll have to attempt to look at least a bit interested for the cameras tomorrow night."

Fayt flinched the moment she relayed the situation she'd been pondering. "I was stupid. And don't remind me of prom. I'll be too ashamed to come to the ceremony tomorrow night, and then you'll be all alone around all those strangers."

Ray sneaked a glance at Fayt and Sophia, a smile tugging at his lips. "What happened?" he asked them.

She gave Fayt a challenging look. "Let's just say it was vaguely like going to prom with a terminally ill person."

"Punch," Fayt admitted, looking like he really did feel ashamed. "I was incredibly awkward, and having a drink in my hand meant I didn't have to dance. I should have remembered there was more than just fruit juice in that stuff."

Sophia smiled. "I finally convinced him to dance with me, and he went green ten seconds into the song. We spent the rest of prom outside."

"With me puking in the bushes," Fayt admitted finally. "Sophia was really nice about it."

She shrugged in response, the smile still on her face. "He did everything I wanted for at least a month afterwards, he felt so guilty. It wasn't too big a price to pay."

Ray smiled as their shuttle entered a large, important-looking building. It was more artsy than the surrounding ones, its contours elegant. Ray parked in the strangest hangar Sophia had ever seen. The floor was concrete, but the walls were adorned with deep red wallpaper, with paintings hung at regular intervals, well lit by spotlights above them. Sophia studied the paintings as they walked past.

Ray opened the door that led out of the hangar and into the building. "Welcome to Glacier resort, where all your dreams come true."

Sophia blinked several times when she saw the hallway. It looked like an ordinary hallway for a fancy hotel, except for the fact that the walls and floors were lined with symbological patterns, inlaid in gold. Ray noticed what she was looking at.

"A nice touch, don't you think?"

"Even Bachtein doesn't do this kind of stuff," Fayt said in awe. "Even though symbology is a major area of study."

"Bachtein has more important things to do than decorate hallways with these useless spells," Sophia said, feeling insulted. She'd always considered Bachtein University to be the most beautiful place in the world.

"Not that you would know," Fayt shot back. Sophia hadn't been taking any classes at the university this year. A professor had been so impressed with her magic that he took her education into his own hands.

"Now now," Ray said with the air of a nursemaid. "Unless you want all the magazines to say you're breaking up, you'd better cut it out."

"I was just –" Fayt and Sophia started saying at the same time. They smiled at each other, knowing that there had been no harm intended.

"Besides, we're not together in the first place," Fayt pointed out quietly. He couldn't indulge in Ray's misconception, apparently. Sophia bit her lip.

"The truth doesn't really matter," Ray said as he started to lead them through the resort. He sounded happy.

After a maze of hallways and elevators that would make Sphere Company look like a kiddy play park, Ray came to a stop in front of a white door. The golden inscriptions here didn't have any meaning: they just traced out aesthetically pleasing patterns that reminded Sophia of rosebushes. Ray pressed a button beside the doors, and they slid open without a sound.

Sophia's palms itched as she saw the interior – a familiar feeling. It was the same feeling she got when she saw a superbly organized kitchen or a well-supplied cupboard of cleaning materials. As she looked at the beautiful fabrics hanging off racks, the colorful ribbons and the masses of white silk lace, Sophia could feel her mouth start to water. There was so much _opportunity_.

"You're drooling," Fayt remarked with a hint of amusement.

"So she should be," answered a beautiful, blond woman with makeup that made her look like she came right from a fairytale. Whirls of color adorned her face, swirling over her cheekbones like liquid. She had noticed Sophia's eagerness at the sight of fabric and measuring tape. "It's not every day I get a customer with such a fine appreciation for my workplace," she told Sophia happily. "This is going to be a lot of fun."

Then she wrapped an arm around Sophia's shoulders and drew her into the room, smiling. Sophia could hear Fayt's half-hearted protest as the door closed, and Ray's muffled reply.

"C'mon, Fayt. She'll be fine, I promise."

Their footsteps retreated down the hall, and the woman came around to hold Sophia by the shoulders.

"Don't worry, love," she said with unmasked enthusiasm. "I am going to make you more beautiful than you have ever been before."

x x x

Fayt was sure that one way or another, the people in charge were determined to keep him and Sophia apart until the ceremony was over. It was starting to get on his nerves. Fitting sessions and impromptu interviews were all very well, but they could only stretch the evening out for so long. Fayt suspected that they would keep him on the go until they were sure he would go straight to bed. What was it that they were hiding? Was it really so bad that they couldn't let the finalist teams converse in private, for fear of them figuring it out?

It was frustrating to the point of madness. Fayt was having trouble concentrating.

"Do you and Sophia discuss your tactics before a battle, or does the teamwork just come from practice?" the current interviewer asked. He was a kind-looking man, middle-aged, with an honest air about him.

Fayt bit his tongue to keep from answering rudely. This man had done nothing to him. In fact, this was probably the first individual who seemed genuinely interested in battle tactics, rather than personal information. Perhaps the media had finally caught on: Fayt and Sophia did not speak about their private lives.

"Sometimes we'll talk about it a bit if we've heard about the opponent before. Usually we adapt to the situation – and each other. We practiced a lot."

"In a battle simulator?"

For a moment Fayt envisioned himself answering truthfully. _No, actually. We practiced on an underdeveloped planet with a small band of warriors – including a young boy whose primary weapon was a helmet – and killed more than half the world's indigenous creatures, a dozen of those executioner-things and anything else that happened to cross our path. Hey, that reminds me. Do you know we're all in a thing called the Eternal Sphere, created by 4D beings for their gaming pleasure? Yeah, we found that out along the way. Oh, and we kind of killed the creator of our universe. It was all pretty good practice._

"Yeah," he answered instead. It was better not to get arrested for violating the UP3.

The interview dragged on. The man was kind, and Fayt felt bad for him. Fayt wasn't being very forthcoming, and this was by far the politest interview he'd had. Not that he'd agreed to many – but the questions reporters yelled were usually probing and rude.

Finally, the man thanked him formally and left the room. Fayt stood up, determined not to get stuck in another interview. A hotel employee came in quickly.

"Do you wish to rest, sir?" he asked.

"That would be good," Fayt said shortly. The boy nodded and led the way, looking kind of nervous.

Once they arrived at Fayt's room, Fayt asked, "So when will I be able to see Sophia?"

The boy flushed. "I'm sorry. I don't think there will be time before the ceremony. It's – I'm not –"

Suddenly, Fayt felt guilty for asking. Of course the boy had orders not to let them see each other. It was unfair to punish him for what his superiors made him do. He folded his arms and sighed.

"It's okay – I know you're not supposed to let me see her. I just don't know _why_."

This made the boy happier. "Oh, I don't know either. Haven't the slightest. Maybe they want to keep you separate so you'll be totally wowed when you see her all dressed up tomorrow night!"

The sudden cheer was almost endearing. Almost. Obviously, this boy wanted to be on Fayt's good side.

"Um," the boy continued. "Would you sign this?" He held out what looked to be a Fayt-and-Sophia trading card. It looked pretty epic to Fayt, with an exaggerated picture of him and Sophia doing certain moves. Sophia was controlling Efreet while Fayt looked like he was exploding from the card with a side kick. It was vaguely humiliating.

"Sure," Fayt said, fighting to hide his embarrassment. When he'd thought of recognition before joining this idiotic tournament, he hadn't thought of things like trading cards and silly action figures. Apparently merchandise came with the territory.

After a brief assurance that the boy's friends would be totally blown away by the fact that he had talked to Fayt, the boy allowed Fayt to enter his room for a nice moment of peace.

The room was predominately white: white, king-size bed, white canopies over said bed, white carpet, white walls, white ceiling. A soft gold rug covered the floor, and all the wooden furniture was gleaming mahogany, but those splashes of color didn't do much to darken the overall impression. This was one bright room. In the moonlight, it would glow.

Despite the interesting freebies on the desk and wardrobe, Fayt headed straight for the bed. He collapsed onto it listlessly. This had been a long day.

It was hard to believe that this was the same day as that long-ago memory of sitting in the waiting room with Sophia while she moved about anxiously. She'd been nervous – he wondered why. If only they could get together and talk things out – he was sure they could clear up whatever was wrong between them. If there was even something wrong. He could at least apologize for kissing her, if that was what she wanted. Surely she didn't hate him that much. On the way over, her eyes had been kind, if worried.

Despite his tiredness, Fayt couldn't stop his thoughts from swirling round and round like a perpetual tornado. There were so many things to think about – the tournament, the secrecy, Dirna and Solon, Sophia…

In previous times of need there had been a voice of reason. It had been a ridiculously deep and masculine voice. Cliff.

Fayt flipped open his communicator and dialled for the Klausian, hoping he would be within range. Surprisingly enough, he was.

"Fayt!" Cliff said warmly. "Haven't heard from you for a while. How have you been?"

"Good, good," Fayt answered, slightly embarrassed by the relief he felt at the older man's voice. As if he was a child who believed a parent would solve everything. Cliff, a father figure? Well… maybe someday. But he wouldn't be Fayt's father figure if Fayt could help it. "Earth has become slightly more interesting since you were here last."

"I should hope so. What's up?"

"Do you expect me to believe you haven't been following events here?" Fayt asked his friend cynically. "Give me some credit here."

"You know me too well, kiddo. Yeah, I know what you've been up to, and I know that there's something fishy going on."

"It's getting worse – you haven't been able to find anything out?"

"Hey, we do have work to do up here. We can't dedicate all our time to getting into federation files that are marked above top secret. Not even for old friends."

"You know where the files are?"

"I have a hunch. But until Maria gets back, I have no hope of infiltrating."

"Maria's gone?"

"Mirage has got her back. Maria is making sure the newly developed planet doesn't get brainwashed with federation propaganda. I'm getting kind of lonely out here."

Fayt smiled. Cliff, lonely? As long as he had a TV with old-fashioned Earth soap opera's, he would be entertained. "I'm sure you'll manage."

"Speaking of my loneliness, I'm hoping you're more fortunate. You and Sophia seem pretty tight these days."

Fayt waited a few moments. Should he respond with some unrevealing comment or should he cough up? It would feel pretty good to tell someone.

"I'm in love with her."

Cliff's laugh – kind of like a vocal avalanche on one's eardrums – made Fayt hold the communicator a little further from his ear. Cliff sounded happy when he said, "So, you've finally figured it out. Does she know?"

"Em, about that…" Fayt said. He quickly relayed the events of the morning, when he'd kissed Sophia and she had… well, walked away to kill off a computerized copy of him. Cliff listened intently, not interrupting until Fayt was done.

"Human females and their sensitivity. It's a good thing I'm Klausian – we never have any trouble understanding our women. If you kiss a Klausian girl, you'll know whether she wants to be kissed. If she doesn't, she'll punch you in the face. Nothing subtle about it."

"I'll keep it in mind," Fayt said dryly. He wondered how often Cliff had been punched in the face.

"Don't worry, kid. She's just as in love with you – and she's known it for a lot longer than you have. You must have taken her by surprise. She is kind of doe-eyed and all."

Fayt groaned. "Tell me about it. She looks so innocent, it's painful to see her in any kind of danger. I'm so worried about this tournament. There has to be a reason that the other teams dropped out. What if this is dangerous?"

It took a while for Cliff to calm Fayt down, but he succeeded eventually. Finally Fayt closed the communicator and crawled under the blankets, only pausing to remove his boots and take the complementary mints off the pillows for fear of getting chocolate in his hair.

He lay awake for a while, Sophia on his mind. She had always looked fragile to him, but there was a new tenderness to his concern. As if shielding her from physical harm was not enough anymore.

A part of him still had some sense when it came to Sophia. That part acknowledged that she was a grownup and very capable of handling herself.

The rest of Fayt just stared at the ceiling and thought of Sophia's eyes. Would he ever be able to read love in them, as Cliff said was so easy? Those wide green eyes always seemed to be pleading for something, but Fayt had always assumed they pled for safety. Could he have misread?

He slid into troubled dreams. At first they were pleasant – he and Sophia sat in a meadow. The grass was an odd colour, and Sophia was wearing a strange robe, but her eyes were the real thing. Fayt reached out for her hand. He caught it and held on. Sophia smiled, and put her free hand on his heart. A shocked gasp escaped her, and the smile disappeared.

Suddenly Sophia's eyes glazed over. Her hands were freezing where they touched him. Eight wings sprouted from her back. The hand on his heart drew back, then stabbed into his chest with razor-sharp fingernails.

Fayt couldn't breathe. Having his beating heart pulled from his chest was nothing compared to seeing Sophia's face on the unyielding body of a proclaimer. And the worst thing? Her eyes, pleading with him to make her stop.

The dream ended there, and Fayt was glad when his mind dragged him into deeper unconsciousness, where horrible dreams could not touch him.

x x x

The next day was much like the previous one. Sophia had been awake for only a few seconds when a woman with a smile came with breakfast and a schedule for the day. Sophia's inquiries as to whether she could see Fayt fell on deaf ears.

Her heart ached a little. She'd had the worst dream – she was looking for Fayt onboard the Diplo, and every time she opened a door there was another party member, but never Fayt. Finally they all gathered around her and told her Fayt had left because he didn't love her anymore. At that moment Fayt appeared in front of her – which was stupid, Sophia had reasoned in hindsight, because everyone said he had left – and told her that the others were telling the truth. When she asked him why, he said that she shouldn't have walked away and tried to fight him if she really loved him.

Sophia needed to see him and tell him that she did love him. Before the dream-scenario really happened.

Her day passed smoothly, every second making her feel more like a well-oiled machine. She made the movements, learned the dance, did the interview – and all the time she was screaming inside. She was even contemplating casting some kind of spell in order to get away and find Fayt. Before this day, she hadn't realised how essential her contact with Fayt had become. Now, she felt like her thought process was incomplete when he wasn't there to bounce thoughts off of.

Sophia had given up hope by three in the afternoon. She was being brought to yet another room when she heard Fayt's voice. He sounded as annoyed as she felt.

"Look, if you're just going to bide my time until the ceremony, please don't bother. I'm perfectly happy just to –"

He turned the corner and saw Sophia. His face lit up and the rigidity in his posture was gone immediately. Sophia felt her nerves tingle and fizz. She hadn't consciously made the decision to run towards him, but her legs jumped into a run anyway. Fayt's long strides closed the distance between them within seconds, and he scooped her up in his arms.

"I've been so worried," he said hoarsely. "I dreamt you turned into a proclaimer and ripped my heart out. Don't ever leave me again, okay?"

Sophia held on to Fayt for dear life – or at least, it seemed that way to her. To hold him close and feel the rumble of his familiar voice in his chest made her life right again. "My dream was less literal," she told him. "I dreamt that you didn't love me anymore. The sensation was more or less similar to yours."

Fayt loosened his hold just enough for them to look at each other. "I love you," he said, one hand holding the side of her face gently. "So, so much. I can't think of any way to tell you how much I need you. How much I need you to be safe. Don't ever turn into a proclaimer again."

"I'll try," Sophia told him with a soft smile, brushing her cheek against his, lips grazing the end of his jaw line. She wanted to be in contact with every part of him. He loved her. She hadn't ruined everything when she walked away. Everything would be all right after this stupid ceremony was over.

"I love you too," she said, and her voice was so small she didn't know whether he would hear it. His arms tightened around her again. She felt tears well up in her eyes. Her happiness was so full it _hurt_. Her body wasn't big enough to hold this much joy, and yet, she was still there, still in Fayt's arms, still mumbling something unintelligible in his ear: "Let's never ever be apart again."

"I'm sorry, but you can't stay like this."

The voice was unfamiliar. It didn't belong to Fayt, so Sophia's first instinct was to ignore it and continue to cling to her childhood friend. Slowly, though, her conscience kicked in. These people that she cared nothing for would get into trouble if she stayed here with Fayt. A despicable part of her wanted to disregard their feelings, but she was Sophia. Humanoids were never too unimportant to be ignored by her.

They let each other go, though their eyes lingered. Flushed face regarded flushed face. For now, they would consent to be apart – and then, after the ceremony, they'd never have to be apart again.

The embarrassed attendants led them away from each other without a backward glance. Sophia did glance back, once, before turning the corner. Fayt was standing at the end of the hall, looking back at her. She smiled before he was out of sight.

x x x

He'd hoped that she would look back before she turned the corner. When she did, he tried to print the image onto his retina with pure force of will.

He could read it in her face after all. It was love.

x x x

After her meeting with Fayt, Sophia lost the sharp-edged desperation and gained a feeling of fluttery anticipation. She felt so… young. She hoped her state of ecstasy wasn't too apparent, but she had a feeling it was written on every atom of her being.

Her suspicions were confirmed when she met the dressmaker again. The woman's face was no less exotic than yesterday, but Sophia felt a lot less mesmerized by her. Since learning she was called Anna, the woman had seemed a lot more human.

"Ah, Sophia," Anna said with gratification when she saw her. "You glow! And I haven't even put my dress on you yet."

Sophia smiled blissfully. "I feel a lot better than I did yesterday, thanks. Did you get any sleep?"

"Sleep? Who needs sleep when they're doing something they enjoy? I gave myself a quick buzz in the refresher, but other than that, it's been all about designing this thing to fit you better than your skin does."

"That's a challenge," Sophia said admiringly. "Why didn't you use one of the full body scanners instead of tape measure?"

Anna scoffed. "It's so impersonal. Like we're all slabs of data."

Sophia refrained from answering.

"Anyway, I only have one client. Nothing wrong with some special attention."

"How can they afford to employ an expert for just one person?" Sophia asked. It seemed so wasteful.

Anna smiled. "Have you seen the labels on those clothes in the wardrobe? They're all from pretty important fashion companies. All of those companies are lavishing clothes on you in the hope that you will advertise them by wearing them. They're your sponsors."

Sophia shook her head. "It's so strange. I can't imagine anyone would like a label more or less because I wore it."

"Don't say that! My company is paying me a truckload to have me here, doing this. I'll be out of a job if they find out you think of it this way. Now, let's get down to business."

Anna grinned and walked over to the clothing rack. She took out a light pink dress and held it in front of her. It was strapless, with what looked to be a silk corset on top. The bottom was made of layer upon layer of pink gauze that made the dress look fairy-like. It was shorter on one side than the other, and longest at the back. It didn't reach the floor, for which Sophia was glad. Her memory of ballroom dancing had been refreshed, but she didn't think she was good enough to navigate a dance floor in an overly long dress.

Anna watched Sophia's reaction closely. "I wanted to pick red, but I knew Fayt would be wearing blue. Pink and blue... well, I can't argue with it. Still, you have to promise to let me make you a red dress sometime. You'd look ravishing."

Sophia smiled. "I promise."

Anna ushered Sophia into a dressing room, where she changed into the dress. She needed Anna to tie the laces at the back.

"Beautiful," Anna said finally. "You look like an angel – it's almost cliché. I knew that nearly-white shade of pink would bring out the glow in your cheeks. If I was your man, I'd drop to my knees on the spot."

Sophia blushed. "That would be strange."

Anna stepped forward to hug her, then ushered her out of the room. "Go impress the world, honey. I'll be watching."

Sophia stepped out into the hallway and was immediately joined by another hotel attendant. The next stop would be some kind of make-up artist and then… well, then the ceremony would start. Sophia could hardly breathe for the butterflies gliding around in her stomach.

x x x

Finally she was ready. All her nails were painted pink, her feet had been put into white, strappy, high-heeled shoes she had no hope of getting out of, and her face had been painted to look subtly more beautiful. Au naturale, the make-up artist had called it. Sophia had never before had so much attention lavished on her.

She knew she was near the ballroom because the doors ceased to be automatic. Instead, formally attired attendants opened the doors as she passed by. Sophia smiled at humanity's folly. Millennia later, and the servitude of others – even when it was less cost-efficient and unnecessary – was still a mark of class.

The last pair of grand-looking double doors opened, and Sophia was at the top of a red-velvet staircase. Her eyes were wide with wonder. Chandeliers lit the way down, where one grand chandelier in the ceiling took over from the smaller ones – bathing Fayt in light.

He looked kind of like some foreign fleet of space ships was bearing down on Earth and he was the only one privileged to see the landing – awed. Except, well, would he look that welcoming? Anna had told Sophia she glowed, and now Sophia knew what the other had meant. Fayt seemed to add his own blaze of light to the room. He was dressed simply, in a blue shirt and formal, black trousers. Looking at him made her heart race.

Though the heels had worried her at first, Sophia was barely conscious of walking down the stairs. Her eyes never left Fayt's. All she could think of was the moment they would touch, hold, stay together. It was intoxicating.

Fayt moved to meet her at the bottom of the steps. Their hands reached out simultaneously. Sophia put her hands in Fayt's, only stopping when she was one step above him on the stairs. Their eyes were nearly on the same level – Sophia barely had to look up.

"I don't want to ruin the universe for myself by trying to compare you with something in it," Fayt said quietly. "I think it'd fall short."

Sophia smiled, flooding with warmth at his words. "Luckily, there's always 4D space."

Fayt laughed softly, his breath in her neck. "Since when can you not take a compliment?" His hand slid up her arm, over her elbow, up to her bare shoulder. Sophia's skin tingled where he touched her.

"Since you learned how to make them. What happened to my dense Fayt?" She leaned forward with her eyes shut, enjoying how he played with her hair. Everything he did made her stomach twist and turn pleasantly. How was she ever going to concentrate again? Her body was on fire.

"You left him, and suddenly he realized how big a part of everything you are. That's another compliment, right there."

"Fayt," Sophia said as his caresses drove her mad. There were still people in the hall, though they pretended to be looking at something else. She didn't want to make them awkward – or be late for the ceremony.

He drew back, though one hand stayed in the nape of her neck. "Okay, I promise to be compliant for the next few hours. One condition." He didn't wait for her to ask what. She was already leaning forward.

Their lips met halfway. It wasn't deep – just skin brushing skin. While the softness made Sophia want to scream, she resisted the urge to press harder. Even this teasing touch threatened her self-control. If the kiss deepened, she wasn't sure she could stop.

After what seemed like nanoseconds, they had to stop and tumble into reality. They turned and walked to another set of doors, where a middle-aged man was waiting. Sophia's legs felt like jelly. Luckily, the arm Fayt held around her waist steadied her.

The attendant flashed a crooked smile at them. "There's going to be a lot of media coverage tonight. You may want to keep the private moments private." He looked pointedly at the wall. Sophia noticed a tiny video recorder there. Fayt slowly removed his arm from around her waist.

"Let's not talk about our plans for galaxy domination then," Fayt suggested to Sophia. She knew what he meant: "Let's not talk about 4D space, or anything related to it." She hoped her earlier mention of 4D had gone unnoticed.

"Your entrance will be in approximately one minute," the man told them, checking his watch. "The Klausians will enter from the other side simultaneously. There may be teams you have faced before in the crowd tonight. Don't be scared to acknowledge them."

Sophia looked forward to meeting the other finalist team. "Do you think Klausians will be like Cliff and Mirage?" she asked Fayt.

"Physically, yes. Personality-wise? I admit that I have high expectations."

Sophia laughed. "Sure you do."

"Yeah. I expect the woman to be a pro at anything she tries her hand at, while remaining dispassionate and modest, and I expect all the men to have scarily accurate hunches. Oh, and they should be artists deep down inside."

"One of Cliff's many attributes. Have you spoken with him recently?"

"Yeah, last night. He says he's lonely."

Sophia smiled. That big, brawny guy, lonely? The idea was cute and heart-breaking at the same time. "We should visit him once this is over, then."

The man in charge checked his watch again. "You have another visit to make before then," he said, moving to open one of the doors while another attendant handled the other. "Good luck."

Fayt held out his arm and Sophia took it. Together they swept into a beautifully decorated ballroom. They walked down the stairs from the balcony amid the flashing of cameras. Sophia was in awe of her surroundings, incapable of posing for pictures when people shouted for a pout or a wave.

The room was decorated in gold and white, which seemed to be the hotel's theme colors. Large white draperies hung all around the room, and golden curtains wrapped around the white pillars. The floor was immaculately polished, and Sophia couldn't determine what the material was. It seemed like a cross between marble and wood, and light strands of the material traced out floral patterns against the darker grain. Some strands of the stuff were such a reddish, light brown that they seemed pink. Sophia liked the effect, though she couldn't see much of it with all the people staring up at her.

At the opposite side of the room the Klausians made their descent. They walked with the same air of confidence that Cliff did – and with good reason, too. Two of the men were wearing shirts and dress pants, but the third was wearing leather trousers, with a black shirt tucked into them. His collar had been popped up – he looked like a bad guy from long-ago Earth. He obviously enjoyed the attention, because he was grinning from ear to ear. The woman looked phenomenal. She was wearing a deep-cut dress of a vibrant emerald color that brought out the green in the lines around her neck. Her blonde hair hung down to her waist, her only accessory for it a green ribbon wound around her head. Though her apparel was feminine, the Klausian woman still looked deadly. The muscles of her arms were no longer concealed by clothes, and they were a sight to behold. To Sophia, she looked glorious.

The two teams met up in the middle of the ballroom. Sophia wasn't sure that was meant to happen, but apparently the Klausians were just as eager to meet them as she and Fayt were to meet the Klausians.

"Hey there, competition," the Klausian in leather pants said. "Nice to meet you. Thinking of dropping out?"

Fayt shot him a grin. "You kidding?"

Sophia smiled. "Our Klausian friend would never let us hear the end of it."

"Oh, damn," another of the men said. "They've had practice."

The woman smiled. "Never mind Forest," she said. "He likes to see the expressions on the contestants' faces when they find out exactly how strong we are. Don't worry, I know we have an unfair advantage. We'll go easy on you."

The last man grinned. "No we won't."

"Please don't," Fayt said politely, though Sophia could see the excitement in his face. _This _would be a challenge. "Let's go all out."

Apparently all Klausians had a taste for battle: at Fayt's words, everyone's face lit up.

Right at that moment, the ballroom darkened and spotlights started to swirl around the room. Sophia reached for Fayt's hand, finding his already reaching for hers. Drums gave a beat.

A man's voice, low and mysterious, echoed through the room.

"From the rage of battle two teams have arisen, victorious. Two days from now they will face off against each other. Which will be victorious? Which will be vanquished? How can there ever be an outcome when the teams are so perfectly matched?"

For a moment, Sophia had been captivated. The deep male voice thing always did that – but the fact that the announcer was speaking about them as if they were war heroes, while they were just contestants in a rather tacky tournament, made her lose that captivation. She turned her attention to Fayt as the announcer described several climaxes that had occurred throughout the competition.

"Do you think the silly-tournament-act is just something to mask the conspiracy?" she whispered to Fayt. When he looked at her quizzically, she added, "It's so overdone. It seems completely human. Maybe that's the disguise."

When she stepped back from him she could see the Klausians eyeing her intently. Cliff had always chuckled at jokes about human stupidity – somehow, the Klausians' serious expressions worried Sophia. The woman saw her anxiety, and stepped forward.

"We, too, are suspicious," she said. "The other teams dropped out for a reason. Klausians don't have much of a history with humans, either. We are naturally suspicious of races so embroiled in the Federation's intricacies."

Fayt smiled cynically. "Well, it's not genetic for us, but we're with you on that one."

"Good to know," one of the guys said. "If you find out what the big deal is, tell us."

"We will."

The announcer finished talking about some manoeuvre the woman – Dawn – had made in the last match. He launched into his concluding paragraph with some zeal, finishing with the words, "They have led the way on the battlefield. Today, they will lead the way on the dance floor. Time to step up, contestants!"

Sophia turned to Fayt. She had been told what dance they would open with. Her eyes brightened as she realized that she would be dancing with Fayt. He smiled at her.

"I still hate dancing just as much as shopping," he said very quietly, so only she could hear. She glowered at him.

"Fiend," she said. "Ruin a perfect moment."

He smiled again. "But if it's with you… well, that's different."

Sophia glowed. As Fayt twirled her into the first steps of the dance, she felt like the ground had fallen away. She didn't need it anymore, anyway. She was flying, and the room was a glitter of lights. Fayt guided her through the dance perfectly, as if he really did enjoy it.

She fell into a dream state. She was aware of the movement, of switching partners, being passed from one hand to another – surges of warmth as she came back to Fayt – but everything seemed veiled in a peachy glow that rendered thought impossible. Everything was pure and simple enjoyment.

At one point she was dancing with the most intimidating Klausian, whose name (she'd learned) was Flash – appropriately. He was the one who caught stares.

"Want me to create a distraction?" he asked with a grin.

"Huh?" Sophia peeped. So far, most of the evening's conversation had consisted of compliments and easy questions about whether she was enjoying herself.

"Oh, come on. Don't tell me you really want to stay here all night when you and Blue are making those eyes at each other. Just looking at the two of you is making my heart ache."

"Klausians are such romantics," Sophia said sarcastically. "That is, if you believe in romance on a trial and error basis where error gets you a broken bone or two."

"Klausian women know what they want," Flash said with a grin that nearly split his face. As they twirled, Sophia saw his eyes linger on Dawn. Interesting.

"I know what I want," Sophia sighed. The rosy cloud threatened to surround her again. Visions of Fayt flashed across her vision…

"And I'd like to help you with that. More limelight for me."

Sophia leaned in, trying to seem casual as they continued their stepping patterns. "What's your plan?"

Sophia fought not to laugh with excitement as Flash outlined her escape. She was up for it.

x

Fayt's hand was hot on her wrist as they ran through the abandoned hallway. Flash's distraction had worked. He'd grabbed Dawn and started an intricate, outrageous tango dance that had everyone watching. The escape was effortless.

Sophia couldn't stop laughing.

Fayt glanced back at her as they ran, light gathering in his eyes. He wasn't doubled over laughing, but he was just as amused by the situation as Sophia was. They were like little kids trying to sneak out. Sophia's laughter continued when she thought of how unsubtle they were – kids would have been better at it. Running headlong through a hallway spelled out "escape attempt" better than "escape attempt" did.

Finally they reached a back exit, two sturdy automatic doors that slid apart with a businesslike click. Fayt and Sophia ran through – right into an impressive downpour.

Rather than dampening her spirits, the rain only renewed Sophia's delight. She didn't have long to ponder it, though, because Fayt turned around and pulled her to him. Her stumble was clumsier than it would have been if she had tried to remain standing. Instead, she was quite happy to fall against Fayt. His body was a sun of warmth amongst the lukewarm rain. She reached up to his face, excitement still thrumming through her veins.

Fayt's arms clamped around her, holding her to him and nearly lifting her off her feet. She enjoyed every second, her arms balancing on the back of his now-wet shirt, and suddenly – finally – lips met lips. Their faces were wet with rain, and their clothes were soaked within seconds. Sophia couldn't keep track of what was hers and what was Fayt's – everything was soaked and warm and wonderful. Every moment brought a new blush to her cheeks as their bodies moved in correspondence. Her fingers tangled into Fayt's wet hair.

Oxygen became an issue. Sophia drew back for a ragged breath of air before coming back to the kiss, heedless of lips bruising and arms strangling. Fayt was strong enough to handle it – she hoped. If Luther's Insanity Prelude hadn't killed Fayt, she didn't think her clumsy kissing could.

Once every stitch of clothing on their bodies was saturated with water, they drew apart, breathing hard. Fayt kept his hands on hers, looking at her with wide eyes.

"Are you, um, all right?"

Sophia's eyes crinkled. "You're still my Fayt. Can't get carried away without asking me how I am first."

"First?" He questioned, though he had the grace to look sheepish. "I believe this counts as after."

"Oh, you mean you're done…?" Sophia asked, teasing.

Fayt narrowed his eyes and smiled. "You wish."

This time was different. It was slower, giving Sophia's body more time to send potent fizzing feelings to every cell in her being. She felt as if she was in the middle of an electric field, yet somehow immune to the mind-blowing pain that would entail. All she felt were the ripples upon her skin, the voltage on her lips. It was so maddening that suddenly she was trying to distract her mind from the pleasure. After so many years, the intensity was almost painful.

Fayt drew back suddenly. "What's wrong?"

Sophia blushed fiercely. Her hands dropped to hold the front of Fayt's shirt. The amusement was gone – all she had was awkwardness and a myriad of feelings that flitted by at warp speed.

"It's – " she coughed, hoping her voice would be bigger when she next spoke. "It's just that, have you ever wanted something to happen and tried to convince yourself it won't happen because you couldn't take the disappointment otherwise?"

Fayt's expression was unreadable. "I guess."

For a moment Sophia wondered what Fayt's desire had been. She wouldn't flatter herself – it was probably something like getting into Bachtein University or being allowed on the basketball team. She shook away those thoughts, clearing her head.

"Well, when you've spent so long convincing yourself something won't happen, it's… kind of impossible to plan for it."

A puzzled smile appeared on Fayt's face. "You need a plan?"

Sophia blushed. "No, it's not that. I guess I'm trying to say all of this is kind of overwhelming. Remember that time on Elicoor when our supplies were depleted and we went hungry for a day or two?"

Fayt flinched. "As if I'd forget! I was the one who convinced Nel we needed to travel light."

"You didn't know we'd get snowed in – not your fault. Anyway, do you remember what I did when we got to Airyglyph?"

This time Fayt smiled. "Yeah. You went on a complete binge. All the food you could find – you even stole Albel's gratin. Now _that_ is desperation." He chuckled.

Sophia laughed, taken by surprise. She'd forgotten about that. "I knew he wouldn't find out. A servant replaced the one I stole before he stopped arguing with Nel, anyway."

Fayt grinned, lost in memory. Sophia felt a throb in her chest. She kind of missed those desperate times, when she thought about the good things that had happened during them. She missed the funny situations that made everything bearable.

Finally Fayt asked, "Much as I treasure the memory, why did you bring it up?"

"Oh!" Silly. She'd forgotten the point she was making. "Well, do you remember what I did _after_ I ate all the edible things in sight?"

Fayt thought for a moment. Suddenly he looked uncomfortable. "You mean you have to puke?"

A laugh escaped her. "No, no! I just mean that when you wait a long time for something and then get it all in one go it tends to be… dizzying."

"So that's how you describe it. You looked kind of green the rest of that day." He gripped her chin and made her turn her head left and right. "You seem an okay color now. Is your stomach all right?"

"Oh, Fayt!" Sophia laughed. She flung her arms around him, expecting the casual hug that had always accompanied these moments. Instead, Fayt grabbed her up and used her momentum to swing her around and set her down.

"Dizzy?" Fayt asked cheerfully.

Sophia looked into his eyes, feeling… wonderful. She was sinking into a place where secrets weren't necessary anymore – a place where everything was simple and pleasant. If there had to be a décor, it would consist of pink, fluffy clouds.

For now a rainy back alley would do as a backdrop. She wasn't going to be paying much attention.

She pushed herself against him before answering. Soaked body clung to soaked body. The way their clothes were plastered to her skin only made the caresses more intimate, the hot touches more tantalizing. She could feel every wiry muscle under the sodden fabric of Fayt's shirt, every aching heartbeat.

"Very," she replied at length. "But I think I can handle being dizzy for a bit."


	11. Faceoff

Title: To Claim and Reclaim

A/N: Wow. Let me just say how much your reviews brighten my day. I was especially flattered to hear of a FaytxMaria fan learning to like Fayphia – hope this chapter doesn't spoil that! In other news, it's summer and it's hot. If you're reading this, you're probably hiding from a heat wave like I am. Good luck with that. It's a sauna outside.

Disclaimer: Star Ocean 3 does not belong to me.

**Face-off**

Sophia missed the old stadium. It seemed small and cozy by comparison. This one was rumoured to be the largest on Earth, and it didn't surprise Sophia one bit. She couldn't imagine a bigger one, anyway. Row upon row of bleachers circled the centre stage. They reached so high that the people in the top row ought to have altitude sickness. As if that wasn't enough, there were several airborne platforms that circled the stage, with glass panels in them so the fight could be observed from above. She wondered how many people had bought sight-enhancing tools for this match.

Nerves twisted and turned in her stomach. She and Fayt were standing on a platform beneath the stage that would be raised up for the match – which would be starting very soon. Sophia's eyes lifted to meet his gaze. He smiled in a way that changed the writhing nerves in her stomach into sparkly, bubbly things. The sensation was slightly less sickening.

"Are you worried?" he asked. His voice was very gentle.

"Why would I be worried? We're only going to fight against three Cliffs and a Mirage. You know how well-known Klausians are for their inferior fighting skills." Her voice was several pitches too high.

"Sophia."

"I could hardly keep from laughing whenever I watched them fight. So weak."

He was laughing soundlessly, shoulders shaking. "We won't die from losing, even if they manage to bring us down. Which I doubt."

Sophia pursed her lips. "Maybe if it was a life or death fight, we would have a bigger chance of winning. We can't exactly go all out."

Fayt raised an eyebrow. "I'm not going to hold back, if that's what you mean. Short of removing them from existence, of course."

"Are you sure going all out is okay? I don't want to hurt anyone…"

When Sophia risked a glance at Fayt, she found him looking at her with a peculiar expression. She decided not to ask – and then the platform decided to move.

At first they ascended slowly, the audience going wild as they came into view. Sophia blushed at their enthusiasm. It was only a brief moment – then the blood drained from her face as the platform continued to rise past the stage, faster than before. There was nothing to hold onto. When the speed increased and the platform started moving in a curving path, past the eager faces in the audience, Sophia stumbled and caught herself on Fayt – who seemed to have no problem standing up straight, though he was right at the edge of their fast-moving, dangerous vehicle.

"How are you keeping your balance?" Sophia asked, the panic clear in her voice. Fayt – who had absently wrapped his arms around her when she fell – looked down and smiled.

"Invisible forcefield. I'm leaning on it. You didn't think they'd take the chance of having us fall and die, did you?"

A moment ago it hadn't seemed too silly. Now, though… Sophia laughed self-consciously until the wind in her hair and the speed and the cheering faces turned her laugh into something light and free. Fayt grinned with her, shading his eyes with the arm that wasn't around her.

Opposite to their orbit, the Klausians sped through the air on a larger platform. They seemed exhilarated – Flash was punching air with his fists. Sophia tried not to feel trepidation at the show of muscles.

"If you back out, we won't hold it against you," Dawn shouted with a rakish grin as the two platforms passed each other.

"If you back out, we will," Fayt shouted back. The Klausians laughed.

Finally they landed. It took a while for the crowd to quiet down, but when they did, the whole stadium was silent. Not even the sound of breathing could be heard. Sophia's heartbeat hurt inside her chest, she was so nervous. She and Fayt would have to go all out in order to beat the Klausians, but she wasn't sure she was capable of doing so when her opponents were people she knew and liked. Though the battle wasn't life or death, the pain from attacks was still real.

Solon's voice cut through the silence. "We're here today to witness the battle of a lifetime – an interplanetary battle!"

"Klausians are known for their awesome strength," Dirna added, "while humans tend to rely on the use of symbology. Today, we'll see how those tactics match up."

Across the stage, the Klausians grinned. Sophia looked up at Fayt to see a determined smile on his face. Try as she might, she couldn't conjure one up. She was so afraid of pain – so incredibly afraid of pain – why had she signed up for this tournament in the first place? A shopping trip? Time with Fayt? Her stomach ached as she imagined large, Klausian fists punching into it. Perhaps she should simply give up and hope it would be over soon. Resistance would only prolong the torture.

"Now, Dirna, I think we'd better let the match begin. Don't want to make the audience pass out from holding their breath too long."

"I don't think that'll make them breathe, Solon. This promises to be an earth-shattering match – no pun intended. I can hardly wait any longer myself. Without further ado –"

Sophia's chest throbbed.

"Let the match begin!"

"Thunder flare!" she shouted as soon as the last syllable was out. Fayt rushed into the midst of their opponents, knocking back Flash, who had escaped her attack.

_Don't let them move, don't let them move, don't let them move. _She cast lightning beam, fear speeding her casting. Two got stuck in it, the others distracted by Fayt's air raid.

Then the initial blast of attacks was over. The Klausians could move again, and once they were at close range, they were deadly. Dawn burned through Fayt's defense while he was still airborne, summoning a large globe of fire between her outstretched palms. Forest jumped in to pummel him with his fists. Sophia would have screamed if she hadn't been so preoccupied with the other two. Flash and the last one, Coal, were running her way. She threw aerial at the former, hoping to get away from him.

Coal was still coming. Being in close range with one of the Klausians would be the end of her. Though she was far slower, she did what her body was shouting for her to do: run.

Fayt had recovered from the first onslaught and had managed to get far enough away to release his deadly ethereal blast. His wings bore him up, but as the blue beam of light shot from his body to grievously injure Dawn and Forest, his luminescent eyes met her panicked ones. He cut the attack off halfway and soared over his two opponents, rushing towards her. His wings disappeared as he struck Coal with his sword. The Klausian countered it easily, forcing Fayt into a heavier attack. His blade of fury ripped through the air. The Klausians gathered to unleash their attacks on him, rendering him useless. He couldn't fight if every second brought a new punch.

Sophia forced her symbology out in a quick healing spell, hoping to keep Fayt alive long enough for her to finish her next cast. He had to make it – had to keep the Klausians busy. Did he know what she would do? He couldn't. Even she hadn't known whether she would dare release this spell on good people.

She started the complicated dance, heart pounding. Purple sparks flew from her staff as she twirled and swayed. It was impossible to think properly with the raw power of symbology blasting through every synapse in her brain, but she saw Flash break away from the fight, giving Fayt a chance to get his bearings. Some part of her brain realized this was bad, but she could not heed that part and continue the spell. "Open the gateway to the sacred land," she said under her breath, the magic lending power to her ragged voice. "And let fly the arrow of justice to strike down –" The word evil stuck in her throat. "Our opponents." The magic responded – her altered spell had been enough. She was bathed in purple light, elevated from the ground.

Flash had reached her, but he was too late.

"Meteor swarm!"

The Klausian's clawed gauntlet tore into her stomach while she was still airborne, too sickening for words. She flew backwards, leaving a sparkle of ruby-red blood in her wake. Dizzy with pain, she couldn't see whether Flash was coming to follow the attack or not. The whole stage was a mass of crashing meteors.

Throughout the previous year's journey her companions had told her over and over never to drop her weapon. It was a surprise, therefore, when pain-crazed Sophia attempted to cast fairy light only to find that her hands were empty. Her staff lay a few meters from her. Had she been physically fit, she would have been able to cast healing even without the staff. In her current state, it was impossible.

She clutched her stomach and crawled, not knowing whether another punch was coming her way, whether the next inch she crawled would bring the fatal blow.

"Healing!" she heard from across the field. Her body filled with warmth and vitality. _Fayt_, she thought as she ran for her staff with new energy. He was still all right.

She cast fairy light and reviewed the situation. Flash was down – one of her meteors had hit him. Coal was similarly incapacitated. Dawn was bent double, fury spent, but Forest was still alive and kicking, literally.

Fayt tried to block his blows, but she could tell he was tired. "Charge," she cast quietly, helping her companion. He raised his sword and thrust it through Forest's shoulder. Forest dropped to the ground wheezing. At the same time Sophia sent a lightning beam Dawn's way, and the woman collapsed with good grace, falling to her knees. She held up a hand in surrender.

The crowd roared. Above the noise of cheering spectators came Solon's voice. "Fayt and Sophia are the champions! But what a battle! Folks will be watching this for years to come. What a pristine show of skill! I'm speechless!"

Sophia didn't hear Solon's stupidity, too busy healing her former opponents. The medics joined her in her efforts. "I'm so sorry," she told Flash as she helped him up. He grinned and shook his head.

"You gave as good as you got. I'm proud of you – don't ever let me say Earth girls are meek again."

Sophia laughed. "If you hadn't been beating Fayt into a pulp, I would never have been able to cast a spell like meteor swarm. Call me meek all you like."

"The great felines of your world have retractable claws. Their weapons are sheathed – but that doesn't make them any less deadly. A good fighter knows when to lash out and when to pull back. I do not call that meekness." He grinned as he looked at Dawn, who was glaring at a laughing Forest. "The felines of our world, well…"

"Do I want to hear this?" Sophia asked teasingly.

"Let's just say she's less subtle. Shall we join our groups in celebration and commiseration?"

She nodded. Fayt, who had been aiding a medic in Coal's recovery, straightened up when he saw her approaching. His shirt was torn and gory, and there was crusty blood all over one side of his face, but he moved with ease. She knew he was fine.

More than fine, if his expression was anything to go by. Excitement bubbled over in her stomach, and walking was suddenly far too slow. She ran to him, throwing her staff to the ground as she did so.

He caught her and held her. The tournament was finally over, but she and Fayt would stay together. Her old fear of loneliness was gone.

"Stay with me after this," he said, echoing her thoughts in his urgent voice. "Don't leave."

"Just try and get away from me," she replied fiercely – and laughed. He grinned in response, putting her back on her feet. He turned to the Klausians.

"Thanks for the match, guys. If you're ever out of a job, I'm sure Quark will be happy to have you."

The smile on Flash's face disappeared. "Quark was dissolved a year ago," he said, sounding regretful.

"Restructured," Sophia corrected. "First Maria did plan to dissolve it, but ordinary life didn't suit her. Once she decided that the universe needed an organization like Quark, things had changed. Quark couldn't afford to keep on so many – the Federation threatened to cut trade with Klaus if they continued to fund what they considered to be a terrorist group."

Fayt's eyebrows rose as she talked. "How do you know so much? I thought you were isolated from the rest of the party."

"I heard crew members talking while we were on the Falcon. They were reminiscing about the good old days."

"Good old indeed," Forest said. "We were heartbroken when Quark disbanded. I _knew_ we should have stuck around and seen if it got back together again!"

"Oh really?" Coal shot back. "I seem to remember you being quite happy to join that treasure-hunting crew on Skye."

"Hey! I didn't want my skills to get rusty."

Dawn shook her head. "I'm glad to hear Quark's still going. We'll see about rejoining. For the moment, you humans are still pretty amusing."

Flash grinned. "Maybe we could train together sometime. Mix it up a little, you know."

"Might be a good plan," Fayt replied, seeming keen enough. Sophia wasn't similarly inclined; she'd had quite enough of hurting people she liked.

Thankfully, the tournament was indeed over. Solon and Dirna were announcing it overhead, naming the top three. Several Glacier employees came out on flying platforms, presenting gifts and flattering words to both teams. Sophia fought embarrassment. She liked to be praised and recognized, but the congratulatory words were overly admiring to the point where they were uncomfortable to listen to.

After the official part of the award ceremony, the men and women that had presented the trophies descended to talk to the teams privately. Contracts were offered to all six contestants, earning a good deal of scorn from the Klausians. Fayt and Sophia tried to be kinder: they told their potential employers that they'd think about it.

Finally the awards had all been handed out and fans were free to leave the stadium. Airtaxis arrived on the stage. When a tournament lackey explained what the vehicles were there for, Sophia nearly swooned. The taxis would take the contestants home.

_Home_. Though she and Fayt had theorized that they would be allowed home after the finalist ceremony, they had been sorely misled. They stayed sheltered in the hotel, remaining isolated from society – and, for the most part, each other. Somehow, they never managed to be alone together for longer than fifteen minutes without being disturbed. Each time they tried, a hotel employee would come knocking with some urgent piece of business. They'd settled for behaving as usual in public and in private – which meant that the one escapade and a few sneaked kisses were all they'd had. For Sophia, it wasn't nearly enough.

She turned to Fayt, feeling a flutter in her stomach as she did so. She tried – furiously – not to blush. By the knowing look on Fayt's face, she had an inkling that her thoughts showed through. He hesitated a moment before taking her hand.

"Come home with me?" he asked.

Sophia ducked her head. She wanted to make some kind of joke – ask him "is that a pick-up line?" – but she was completely tongue tied, embarrassed and awkward as if she were a bumbling thirteen year old all over again. All she could do was nod and smile, her breath stuck in her throat.

They got into the car. It was a fancy one, with a table, couches, and a screen between the passengers and driver to ensure privacy. Sophia felt her stomach twist as Fayt entered the address into the GPS. Though she knew all about the physical details behind the awkward sensation in her body, she couldn't help but feel that it made no real sense whatsoever for her to feel this way.

How could the person she most wanted to be with, the person she trusted above anyone else, the person who made her feel the most secure, be the same person that made her nervous and tongue-tied? Perhaps it wasn't him, but her, or the situation. She felt similar to the way she felt before she had to give a big presentation, or before a match.

Fear of the unknown? She'd never… well…

_Stop thinking about it!_ she commanded herself brusquely. It only made her feel more uncomfortable.

Fayt touched her face, nearly making her jump. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she said so softly she wasn't sure she'd spoken aloud. The car hummed just as silently. Sophia swallowed painfully once the humming stopped. Had anyone ever been this nervous?

Fayt stepped out of the car and reached back for her. She took his hand with downcast eyes, which almost made her miss the fact that they hadn't come to Fayt's apartment. They stood in front of the Leingod's mansion-like house, Sophia gaping like a fish.

"Huh?"

"Ryoko is gone – still trying to figure out why 4D beings and the federation are working in tandem. She's at moonbase. I thought you'd prefer to clean up in a place that doesn't resemble a dump."

Sophia smiled, still not meeting his eyes. Fayt tugged her hand and led her in, heading for what she knew was the guest bedroom. She'd stayed here often when she was younger, which had led to some character development on the room's part – it had peach-colored walls that were lined with stuffed animals. The room was exactly the way it used to be, too, with the light streaming through the curtained window onto the egg-shaped chair she used to love spinning around in.

She didn't have long to enjoy her blast from the past as Fayt continued towards the bathroom. He let go of her once they were inside, heading for the shower. He ran the water, feeling for the temperature.

Sophia unlaced her shoes and tugged them off, rolled off her sweaty stockings, folded them neatly, then took off her torn and bloodied bolero – leaving her standing in her equally torn and bloodied bodice and dress. Fayt had his back to her.

"There are towels in the top left drawer – well, I guess you know all that. You can –"

He stopped talking when he turned around. Sophia approached cautiously, walking around him towards the stream of water – and drawing him in after her. He followed her, fully clothed.

A half-smile appeared on his face. "You do like to be in water, don't you?"

She smiled back. Perhaps this wasn't so scary after all. "You're covered in blood and gore," she said simply.

"There's more than one shower. Plus, there's a cleaning pod in my mom's room –"

"Fayt," she pouted, trying to be playful in case he was, in fact, trying to reject her softly. But surely – surely it was just to protect her. She'd always been the fragile friend he had to look out for. She tried not to feel worried. From all accounts she'd heard, men didn't usually complain when their girlfriends led them into the shower.

She undid his belt with trembling fingers. Would he stop her?

"Sophia," Fayt said as her hands moved on to pull at the laces of her bodice. He placed his own hands over them. His voice sounded constrained as he asked, "Are you sure?"

Sophia uttered a sigh of relief. So he _had _been worried about her, rather than unwilling. "Is Earth a planet?" she quipped. Fayt laughed harder than the weak joke warranted. Apparently, she wasn't the only one who'd been nervous.

Their eyes met, and there was no more need for talking as hands and lips took over. It was great to finally give in to the pull she felt towards him – an inexplicable pull, as if Newton's universal gravity equation had been hijacked when it came to her and Fayt – a glitch in the Eternal Sphere, maybe. It certainly felt right to hold on to her friend, to slide her fingers under his shirt and plant kisses in his neck. Her nerves fired at every move he made against her, making her breath come short and her skin tingle. She closed her eyes as his hand traced the curve of her breast, loosening the bodice. The garment fell to the floor moments later, followed by the rest of their soiled battle uniforms.

Things would never be able to go back to the way they used to be, but as Fayt drew her closer to him, she knew, without a doubt, that she did not want them to.

X x x

Light filtered in through the peach colored curtains, awakening Sophia with a gentleness that befitted her rosy state of mind. She smiled and stretched. Her body ached in places it had never ached before, but it was an almost pleasant ache, reminding her of last night. Fayt was not in bed with her, but she had no doubt he would return soon – she had a vague memory of a whispered promise of breakfast, though she must have been half-asleep when she heard it.

She was completely naked beneath the blanket, and she fought the urge to run out and fetch some undergarments to cover herself up. Her body's imperfections were all too clear to her, but Fayt hadn't seemed to mind the flaws she considered monumental. In fact…

A smile crept onto Sophia's face as she lost herself in thoughts of the night before. She could have remained in that dreamy place for a long time, but the creaking of the guest room door interrupted her fuzzy reflection on recent events.

"Fayt," she said softly, enjoying the taste of his name on her tongue. The morning glow made her want to say it over and over again.

He was wearing a short-sleeved shirt over khakis, a picture of neatness with a tray in his hands. The tray smelled of miso soup and steamed rice. Sophia inhaled deeply as she drew the blanket up around her chest and sat up.

"Good morning," Fayt said rather hesitantly. He put the tray down on the bedside table and climbed into bed behind her, encircling her with his arms. She leaned back into his hold.

"Thank you. It looks delicious," she told him, though the moment he touched her she would rather sit and enjoy the sensation than eat. Still, it would be impolite to ignore the food he brought, so she made herself pick up the bowl of soup and begin her meal.

When she had eaten enough for politeness, Sophia put down the plate she held and ran her hands down Fayt's arms, down to where his hands moved across her skin. She was about to turn around and kiss him when the doorbell went.

"It's probably someone for Ryoko," Fayt said, though he didn't sound like he meant it.

Sophia sighed. She knew good things didn't last forever, but this seemed awfully soon. "Do you have anything I could wear?" she asked self-consciously, knowing her clothes from the day before were still lying on the shower floor, unmended.

Fayt gestured to a pile of neatly folded clothing in the egg chair. He got up and walked to the door, then came back and leaned in for a single, sweet kiss. "I'll see who it is," he said.

The clothes were some of Fayt's old things – a black T-shirt much too large for her and tan, knee-length shorts that came down to Sophia's calves. Sophia laughed when she saw her reflection once dressed – she looked like a young boy who'd hidden something under his shirt to look like a girl.

"Sophia," Fayt called from outside the room. He didn't sound happy.

She ran to meet him at the front door, where he stood with two Glacier employees she didn't recognize. Their eyebrows rose when they saw her garb, though they were quick to school their expressions.

"Sophia," the man said. "Congratulations on winning the tournament. We would like to escort you and Fayt to headquarters for a meeting with our sponsors."

Sophia frowned. "I never heard anything about a meeting before." She looked at Fayt.

"There was something about meeting the sponsors in the contract," Fayt told her. "I didn't think it meant anything – didn't sound like much, anyway."

"I suppose we have to come along straightaway?" Sophia asked, annoyed. She was tired of the stupid tournament – the publicity, the admirers, the never-ending stream of events to attend. It made her want to clean the whole Leingod mansion out of frustration.

"Yes. We're sorry – we did try calling your communicators. Several times."

Fayt and Sophia exchanged a glance, thinking of the calls they'd been ignoring since they came to the mansion the day before.

"Will I have time to swing by my apartment for a change of clothes?" she asked, trying to communicate her intense irritation.

"That won't be necessary. It is an informal meeting, simply to discuss a few points."

"Can we discuss this for a moment? Thank you." Sophia closed the door before they could protest. "I don't suppose you can remove them from existence…?" she asked Fayt when the door was closed.

He laughed. "Don't worry, Sophia. It'll be some silly marketing scheme, and we'll listen to it, and then we'll say no and go home. It won't take long."

She sighed. "I suppose that's okay. If that's all it is." As Fayt reached to open the door again, she said, "Wait!"

He turned back, and she gave him a quick kiss on the lips. Her arms tried to throw themselves around him, but she held them back from doing so. Fayt's expression told her he, too, would have liked to follow that kiss with another, but he reached out for the door obediently.

"Okay," he said to the Glacier employees, walking out the door. Sophia stepped into a pair of Ryoko's flip-flops, lying by the front door, and she followed her blue-haired friend-turned-lover out of the house.

Once again, Fayt and Sophia sat in the back of a shuttle with no idea where they were heading. Sophia watched the city go past at a dizzying speed, sighing as she did so. There was no use complaining, but she really didn't feel like meeting a bunch of businessmen looking like a young boy. She had a feeling they wouldn't take her seriously – not that many businessmen thus far had.

"Who are these sponsors, exactly?" Fayt asked suspiciously as they entered the large hangar belonging to the Federation Headquarters on Earth.

"As you see, the Federation. They were generous in their funding for the tournament."

Trepidation bubbled in Sophia's stomach. Since finding out her existence was against Federation law, she'd been notably less comfortable near the intergalactic organization – strangely enough.

"And secretive," Fayt said, a furrow between his brows. "Is there any reason it wasn't publicized?"

"These questions are better addressed to the people you'll be meeting with," was the only answer to that.

The men got out of the shuttle and opened the back doors for their passengers. Fayt and Sophia exited, and were led to a sliding door that opened on a hallway that could have been an exact replica of any Federation ship's interior. White and blue adorned the walls, floor and ceiling, and soft electronic beeps broke the silence.

A man in a Federation uniform was waiting by the door. He bowed to Fayt and Sophia, dismissed the two Glacier employees and led his charges on. Sophia gritted her teeth. Lackeys, lackeys, lackeys – there was an endless stream of them in this tournament.

After enough doors and transporters to make it quite impossible for Sophia to leave without a guide, the Federation flunky bowed them into a conference room. She entered behind Fayt, observing the room carefully. There were two men and one woman seated at a big white table in the center of the room. The man in the middle gestured for her and Fayt to sit down across from them. They obeyed, albeit with fists clenched. Sophia felt as if she had been sent to the principal's office for bad behavior – and she'd never been sent to the principal's office.

"Fayt, Sophia," the man in the middle started, nodding at each in turn. "Congratulations on your win. You represented your planet well."

Sophia felt no need to thank him, and Fayt was waiting things out to see where the conversation went. After an uncomfortable second of silence, the woman continued.

She motioned to the large man in the middle. "This is Commander Tigo –" she motioned to the man in the on the end "- Lieutenant Greenstone, and I am Rose Walker, intelligence engineer. We've been looking forward to speaking with you."

Greenstone picked up where she left off. "We know that you two have a certain amount of knowledge on the matter of executioners," he said blankly, without emotion. "Perhaps you have wondered where they went suddenly, after the events of two years ago when it seemed they would destroy the planet."

Sophia folded her hands nervously. How much did the Federation know of her and Fayt's contribution to the events Greenstone mentioned?

"I assumed they disappeared when – " Fayt hesitated " – when they ceased to be on the news. It seemed the threat had vanished."

"The threat which, we take it, you had a hand in removing," said Greenstone, answering Sophia's unasked question. "Your exact level of involvement is unknown, and the exact threat was also largely unknown, but we do have some information on the matter. We know that the Aquaelie was destroyed in an effort to help you."

"Some of Moonbase's information was recovered," Rose explained, folding her hands. "We know you have some… capabilities, skills that would enable you to go into 4D space."

Sophia clenched her fists. How much _did_ they know? She should have expected this the moment she heard Dirna and Solon's voices during the tournament. There seemed to be a connection between the federation and the 4D universe.

But what did that relationship signify?

Commander Tigo broke the silence. "We were contacted by a woman named Blair Lansfeld, who told us how to get rid of the executioners. It was simple, really: We had to gather all the OPAs into one spot. Somehow, executioners were attracted to these objects. We gathered all the moveable OPAs on planet Styx and simply waited for the executioners to come."

Fayt was leaning forward, his interest caught. Sophia pursed her lips. He was his father's son, at times – any vague concept could grab his interest.

"Did it work?" he asked.

Tigo nodded. "They came from all corners of the universe. Strangely enough, the more came, the slower time went in that area, though it was not according to Einstein's theory of relativity – the speed of the planet was unaffected. I'm pretty sure we could have picked them off one by one, but we didn't want to risk it. Instead, we fired a large cannon at them. Blew them all up – OPAs and executioners together. Styx has a new orbit, but there was no true harm done on the whole. It was only afterwards that we realized there were still executioners out there. They were well concentrated, so we missed them easily. There were no reports on movement, because they had fallen into another time lock. So many had gathered that time stood still there, too."

Sophia felt something knotting in her stomach. She just _knew_ where this was going, and she knew the place the executioners had gathered. There had always been many of those creatures there. She shivered in anticipation.

The commander nodded at her. "It seems you know where we mean. The remaining executioners had gathered on Elicoor II, around an OPA that had passed our notice due to the strange environment it was in. I believe you know which artifact I refer to."

"The sacred orb," Fayt said quietly, eyes on his hands. He stared at them uselessly. What was he thinking? Did he regret leaving the federation in the dark, wondering whether he could have prevented the oversight if he'd been more forthcoming?

One thing was certain. Sophia and Fayt were on shaky ground in federation territory. Sophia wanted nothing more than to escape the room with Fayt in tow, but she knew sudden disappearance into thin air would look suspicious – probably.

"Yes," answered Rose. "A powerful artifact, one we should have remembered to check up on. There's no use regretting the oversight now – it's done, and in the meantime Elicoor II contains a desert full of powerful killers locked in a time freeze. We fear that the future of the planet is in danger. Ecosystems will not shift naturally if part of the planet is at a complete stand still."

"You want us to go and get rid of them," Fayt predicted, tone dark.

Greenstone opened his hands. "An easy task for you, we believe, and you are known to the planet's inhabitants. They need not know the danger that lurks on their doorstep. We believe the inhabitants will help you on your journey."

"Journey?" Sophia inquired, voice a note higher than she intended it to be. "Won't you just drop us off by the Mosel dunes?"

"A tad too close for us to swing by in our space ship. No one wants to get that close to a time freeze. Styx was blasted from a huge distance."

"And we're supposed to walk right into it?" Fayt asked, his hands turning into fists. Sophia couldn't help herself – she reached out and curled her hand around his upper arm. The contact steadied her, and she felt his biceps relax slightly.

"We believe you are two of three Earth humans capable of doing so unharmed."

"Why should we help you?" Fayt asked.

The three federation employees looked taken aback. Rose recovered first.

"Of course, you will be amply compensated. An island resort of your own, stock options, fol – you name it. I need not emphasize the philanthropic nature of the mission – you will be doing humanoids from the Gamma sector to the Aldian Empire a great favor."

"Of course," Fayt echoed faintly. For the first time since entering the room, he looked back at Sophia, and she did not like what she saw. His face was set grimly, mouth a straight line, brows together. He'd already decided to help them.

"Can we have a moment alone before we make any decisions?" Sophia asked boldly, feeling somewhat brave.

"Certainly," Greenstone replied, summoning in a lackey with the press of a button. "Please escort mister Leingod and miss Esteed to the green room. Supply them with refreshments, if you please."

Fayt and Sophia followed the young man out to a teleporter, which promptly brought them to a comfortable room bedecked in soothing colors – beige wallpaper with lush green furniture, accompanied by light colored woodwork that had a distinct hominess to it. A table of refreshment appeared a second after they did, transported from elsewhere in the building. The two friends ignored it as they moved to stand in the center of the room.

Sophia stood on her toes to throw her arms around him, pressing her face into his chest. Fayt's arms came to encircle her.

"We have to do it," he said, shattering the brief comfort the moment had held for Sophia. She tried to concentrate on how it felt to have him in her arms – the warm, solid feeling of his body, the familiar smell, the way her body reacted to his proximity – but the moment was gone. It was impossible to embrace him and not think of the danger he would soon put himself into. She knew she would go with him. Even if she could bear to let him go for the length of time he would be gone, she knew she couldn't let him face the danger himself.

"There are so many risks," Sophia said, voice small. "They have no idea what will happen. We could be frozen, too."

"Cliff will unstuck us eventually if we aren't as immune as they seem to think. It'll be all right – we've faced worse things than this."

Sophia dropped her arms and walked away from him to stand by the window. It overlooked the city, and shuttles flew by. She folded her arms, feeling as if she ought to hold herself together.

"We don't have to do this. Maybe the freeze won't affect Elicoor too much – it won't make any difference for the first couple centuries, anyway. It would be as if Mosel had simply dropped off the map. I don't care what they say. It's not our responsibility to solve the universe's problems. We helped them once already – let the federation solve this one. _They're_ the all-powerful organization here, not us. We're just two human beings."

"Two human beings with the capability to enter 4D space. Greenstone was right: we're the only ones who can enter a time freeze unaffected."

"We can. We don't have to." Sophia knew she sounded sullen. There was a part of her that begrudged him for wanting to help, and she knew she ought not to. Didn't she love his willingness to help others when it really mattered? At the moment, she didn't. She just wanted to retire to some part of Earth and aid in symbological research quietly, perhaps marry, maybe start a family – but no. There was no use envisioning such a life when the man she loved was sensitive to any fool's plight.

He must have sensed her annoyance. One moment, two, and his hands came to rest on her shoulders where she stood, rigid, staring out the window.

"You don't have to come with me," he said. "I'll just go in and come back before you know it. As if I was on vacation."

"A vacation with a large risk of death. No thank you – if you're going, I have to come with you. I can't bear the thought –" she couldn't even say it, so she shut up. Fayt knew better than to pester her to finish the sentence.

"Shall we face them again, then?"

Sophia nodded wordlessly, giving up. Once, Cliff had called Fayt "Mr Square, champion of the UP3," but now the title "Mr Square, champion of the universe" seemed more appropriate. She wished he would let the universe sort itself out for once.

They stepped into the teleporter together and made their way back to the interview room, where the three federation employees they'd met earlier ushered them into yet another room, dominated by a large screen. There were no chairs.

"First we can go over the tactical bit – where you'll be dropped, etcetera. Computer, Elicoor II please."

An innocuous picture of a planet popped up. The commander touched a spot of land near snowy mountains, and the screen zoomed in to reveal a familiar sight from an unfamiliar angle – Airyglyph.

"You will be teleported to just outside this city, and a native will join you to guide you to the Mosel Dunes, where the time freeze is located. I believe the man is familiar to you – Albel Nox."

Sophia felt a vague sense of comfort at the prospect of seeing a familiar face, even though the man in question wasn't the most comforting of people. In fact, she'd been terrified of him when they first met – anyone that intent on violence gave Sophia the shivers. Thankfully, she'd gotten used to the warrior after a while, and she had come to rely on his endless energy in battle. Perhaps their mission wasn't doomed after all.

Greenstone's next comment shattered that hope. "Of course, you will have to leave your guide behind before the ruins. We struck a deal with the snow town's monarch, and he would not have his champion endanger himself in what has become a place of legend to the people of Elicoor. Apparently there is a creature haunting the castle, one that only Nox can slay. That quest is quite apart from our predicament, and is of no importance to the Federation. The two of you have ample talent. It will be a quick job even without help from the locals."

Sophia wanted to ask: what about Nel Zelpher and Adray Lasbard? What about Roger S. Huxley? Would they help? Somehow, she knew not to ask. The federation was willing to overlook Fayt's interference in an underdeveloped planet in light of recent events, but rubbing in the extent of that interference would be ill advised.

"Fine," Fayt said shortly. "Anything else? When do we leave?"

"We would like you to speak to someone. So you can get it from the horse's mouth, so to speak – proof of our urgency. We need you to leave as soon as possible," Rose said, then to the computer: "Computer, open port to Blair Lansfeld."

Immediately, Blair's image appeared on the screen, startling Fayt and Sophia into taking a step back. Blair smiled at the pair, and it seemed genuine. There was no strain in that smile, and Sophia hoped the 4D being was truly on their side. She had seemed so in the previous episode, but just because she thought 3D beings deserved freedom didn't mean Blair cared for individual ones. Greek myths often mentioned gods using humans as tools, and as far as Sophia was concerned, Blair was as close to a god as anyone was likely to get.

Still, it was hard to mistrust the kind-looking, grey-haired lady who'd always been there to lend a hand during the events of two years ago.

"Hello, Blair," Fayt said. "It's good to see you again, even though it brings up a lot of questions."

Blair grimaced. "Like why our universes are still connected? I'm afraid you have yourselves to blame, dear. Because you believe in my universe as well as your own, the connection is preserved even though Luther tried to remove the Eternal Sphere from our systems. Your minds are our link to this universe, and unfortunately, the reason why the executioner program is still running."

Sophia gaped. "You mean we're the ones jeopardizing our universe this time? Simply because we saw too much?"

Fayt glanced at her, and Blair shook her head. "Nonsense. None of this is really your fault, Sophia."

The words were comforting, but they were also empty. Sophia could see in Fayt's face that he thought the same thing she did. If all the 4D travelers had died, 4D would no longer exist in relation to the 3D universe. She hoped the three federation employees had not considered the easy alternative to dealing with the executioners: simply kill the people who had been to 4D space. When Sophia chanced a glance at them, she knew she didn't have to worry. Though they would do anything to save their beloved organization, they were too practical to believe the destruction of ten humanoids would erase the monsters that were clogging up time in a remote region of space.

"I want you two to get rid of these unruly programs, Fayt, Sophia. There's little we can do on this end but appear on screens and inform you of the dangers and what to do. Things on this end have changed, too, and we can't come and go as we please."

"Your advice is all we can ask for," Fayt answered truthfully. Sophia bit her lip, wishing Blair could do more and unwilling to open her mouth lest she accuse the gentle old woman of being useless.

"I will part with it gladly, if it does you any good. The Mosel Ruins are littered with executioners, and it's caused a complete crash in the system running that area. So many high-performance programs operating at once, you see – it was unavoidable. However, you two should be quite unharmed by the time freeze should you choose to enter it. The alternative is to transport executioners to some other place one by one where a strong set of humanoids can kill them as they arrive."

Commander Tigo had said nothing about an alternative, nor had his subordinates. Sophia felt suspicious, though she kept her face blank.

"I believe it will be safest to deal with the monsters the old-fashioned way, if you catch my meaning," Blair said with a very pointed glance at Fayt. Her meaning was clear: no destruction gene activation. "There are a lot of sensitive points near that place – the firewall, the Sacred Orb, and the underground part of the Ruins – a clean sweep like the blast that killed the executioners on Styx might cause complications. Other than that, use your own intuition. You know more of battle than I do."

"Thank you," Fayt said, voice low. "It was good to see you again."

"And you," Blair replied. "Though, if your namesake is kind, we will not see one another again. Suffice to say that I wish both of you all the best, and your previous companions besides. Do not overexert yourself. I would hate it if Flad lost his idols to a silly little antivirus program."

With that, Blair winked out again, and five 3D beings stood in total silence for a while, each locked in his or her own thoughts. Sophia was the one who broke the spell.

"I suppose we should get going, if our mission is so pertinent," she said, and she knew she sounded as prissy as she had the day Fayt had forgotten to come down to the beach with her. She didn't care.

"Oh, yes, of course," Rose said quickly, awoken from her reverie. "You will be provided with a shuttle, and we will pick you up this evening. A night on one of our ships will be enough time to get you to Elicoor II. Pack quickly."

Sophia balled her fists and fought the waves of irritation that came over her, each one stronger than the last. Would she never have the time simply to enjoy life? It was as if her life with Fayt was destined to be filled with action, with only short, stolen moments when they could delight in one another. Sophia had never wanted adventure beyond the ordinary – to have the boy she was in love with fall in love with her and sweep her off her feet. With that done, she would have been utterly satisfied with a life of repose, Fayt by her side.

She glanced at Fayt, and her annoyance melted away. Yes, she would have been satisfied, but he wouldn't have. And while he was unhappy, she couldn't be happy either.

Apparently "getting the guy" was not the end of her story. She should have known an idealistic guy like Fayt would be trouble – then again, she didn't think that would have stopped her from falling in love with him all those years ago. Logic simply hadn't entered the equation. No matter how smart the human race became, love remained an unconquerable emotion that could not be quantified or explained away. Sophia thought she liked it that way.


	12. Defeat

Title: To Claim and Reclaim

A/N: It's been ages since I last updated, but I'm finally finished – it only took me four years or so. I'm not proud. There's a new Star Ocean game out (in which one of the characters looks like a mix between a cat and a very young sex slave) and it's on a new console. Time flies. I don't know if anyone still reads this (or even remembers Star Ocean) but after this chapter and an epilogue, I finally get to have that "Complete" label next to my story!

Disclaimer: Star Ocean 3 does not belong to me. If it did, there would be more talking about feelings, Albel would feature in each scene and the battle system would suck. Be glad.

**Defeat**

The next morning found Sophia cold and shivering despite her synthetic fur coat, standing impatiently outside the city of Airyglyph. Albel was supposed to show up any minute, but so far there was no sign of him on the bridge. She sighed into her gloved hands and stomped her feet. Why did they need a guide in the first place? They knew how to get to the Ruins of Mosel without help.

Fayt noted her fidgeting. "He'll be here any moment. You'll see."

Sophia nodded, lips clamped shut behind her scarf.

There was no need for words between the two of them, or rather, no way to move a conversation on to the things that needed to be discussed. Since learning about their new mission, they had been unable to talk about anything but the objective. Sophia was convinced that Fayt was trying to spare her any further grief after dragging her along on their new adventure, and for her part Sophia was unwilling to awkwardly steer a conversation into a more personal direction if Fayt was so insistent on keeping their talk curtailed to safe subjects. That said, almost nothing was safe, and they spent much of their time in silence.

She was feeling blue in the face with cold by the time a hunched figure led a group of dragon warriors over the Airyglyph Bridge. Albel wore his feathered cloak against the freezing wind, but every now and then a strong gust blew it behind him to reveal his less-than-warm battle clothes, purple as ever. It looked as if the grim swordsman hadn't changed a bit.

When Albel reached them, he said quickly, "I have little time for this quest of yours. We'll take the dragons."

While Sophia's instinct was to nod meekly and acquiesce to whatever Albel said, Fayt was unimpressed by his gruff behavior. "Hello. Nice to see you, too."

A fleeting smile escaped Albel. "Bah. You maggots don't change. Hurry – mount. If you insist on pleasantries I will disembowel you and spare myself the trouble of having to guide you."

Suddenly, mounds of black, leathery material Sophia had hitherto passed off as rocks in the snow moved – that is to say, four dragons revealed themselves, unfurling wings and tails and moving towards them. One of the dragon warriors lept up onto the back of the leading dragon as it came closer, while the other dragon warriors provided their leader and his companions help with clambering onto the dragons. The three dimension-traveling companions – friends was too strong a word with Albel – mounted up on the large creatures that had once terrorized them.

"Fly," Albel commanded simply.

Sophia felt a moment of trepidation as her dragon braced itself for flight, but as soon as it was off the ground her heart lifted with it. This was trusted. Utterly foreign and otherworldly, but familiar and comforting at the same time. The feel of the wind in her hair, the strong creature beneath her, the view of Elicoor II – for a few, long breaths, she felt content. Suddenly, Earth seemed a lousy second. It was as if great advances in virtual reality brought unavoidable downsides with it. The real world no longer felt quite as real as it blended with the virtual one. Life on Albel's planet was immediate and reactive, with no simulation required. She tightened her grasp on the dragon's harness and squeezed her eyes shut. This was real. This was now.

When she opened her eyes to look to her left, she caught a glimpse of Fayt that told her he was feeling the same. There were no words – he did not shout or laugh like a kid on a rollercoaster. Instead, he leaned forward much like she was doing and tilted his head back as if to catch the air as it rushed by. He was grinning silently, eyes shut – until they opened to meet hers. She smiled in return.

Before long the Sanmite Steppes showed beneath the black, leathery expanse of dragon beneath her. The descent began – a brief swoop, a drop, and a sudden stop as the dragon clawed the ground. Sophia clenched her legs and hung on. Her companions were less worried: it seemed as if there was a contest between them regarding who could hop to the ground first. As soon as their rides landed, so did they. Albel stood scanning the Steppes while Fayt made his way over to her and offered his hand.

"Care to alight your carriage, my lady?" he jested. Sophia couldn't help herself – she giggled, still slightly giddy from the flight.

"Oh, I _suppose_ I could walk," she said with mock annoyance as she took his hand. "How passé. They've been doing it on underdeveloped planets for milennia."

As she slid down, Fayt moved to catch her. She let him, feeling slightly embarrassed to have Albel standing less than ten paces away, and at the same time fluttering inside to be with a man who could catch her easily and make her feel as if she really was a lady. When she was safe in Fayt's arms, he told her she would never have to walk another step if she didn't want to.

With a sharp command from the dragon warrior who had accompanied them, the great beasts took off again, heading back to Airyglyph through the darkening sky. After the commotion of wings and dragon cries was past, there was a stillness about the steppes that only comes after a great deal of noise. She, Fayt and Albel were very alone, and she was lying in the arms of the former.

"Put me down," she said through a haze of blushing that made Fayt's face light up, eyes keen. If only Albel wasn't standing right there, probably disapproving of their lack of propriety on the field of battle. Fayt ignored her as her fists beat ineffectually at his chest.

"When is the ceremony?" Albel asked dryly, his arms folded. "I hope you mean to delay it until after we are done here. I have little time to spare."

Fayt put Sophia down gently, a smile on his face. "Does that mean you'd come, if there was one?"

Albel sneered and turned away. "Pah! Hardly!"

As Sophia watched his retreating back, wondering whether he meant for them to follow, she thought he might feel embarrassed at having seemed almost human (or rather, Elicoorian) for a moment. Albel at a wedding? Sophia could barely keep herself from laughing out loud. She envisioned him making small talk with her parents over a slice of white wedding cake, trying awkwardly not to call them maggots. Fayt looked at her inquisitively, and she shook off the vision and started after Albel.

"Where are we going?" she asked, struggling to keep up with him. She'd forgotten the way every distance on underdeveloped planets had to be traveled without the help of transporters. It was something she only missed after eating too many sweets in the evenings.

"Where does it look like? We can't get to the Mosel Ruins without going through that blasted small-maggot town. That woman will be there, too, telling you not to go."

Sophia and Fayt exchanged a glance. "That woman?" Fayt asked.

Albel shot him a withering glance, as if he resented having to say her name. "Zelpher."

"Hmm. You two still don't see eye to eye?" Sophia asked. Sometimes, she'd thought the tension between the two felt more like attraction than loathing – but Sophia had to admit that the thought of Albel caring about someone seemed uncharacteristic. His emotional range seemed severely limited. So far, the emotions he had shown ranged from "slightly annoyed" to "death rage", and nothing within that range was conducive to healthy relationships. Still…

"Nor will we, if she continues to be such a thorn in Airyglyph's side. Treaties, compromises, dealing with war crimes – fools. Things were much simpler before she started meddling."

"Thought she was always meddling?" Fayt said, sounding surprised.

"Hmph. Catching maggots like her was all in a good day's work. Now I have to be polite to the people I could've crushed without a second glance two years ago." He traipsed on, and Sophia was too busy trying to keep up to question him further.

The familiar sight of Surferio, also known as "small-maggot town", brought back memories Sophia would have preferred to keep buried. She remembered going through the city on the way to the firewall, her whole being a mass of nerves and anxiety. Even as the friendly Menodix man bored their party with endless stories, she had been unable to escape the fear of imminent death that gripped her. She felt more secure now, more certain of her abilities, but she couldn't escape a slight, niggling fear that this time, the forces that threatened the universe might come out victorious.

Albel brought them to the house belonging to the hospitable Menodix couple. The normal inhabitants were away from home, but lounging in one of the chairs was none other than Nel Zelpher, Aquios' long-time heroine.

"Good afternoon," she said in her deep voice. She smiled, getting up from the chair and folding her arms as she looked at them. "I see that academics haven't softened either of you up."

Fayt smiled half-heartedly. "They could have, but we got caught up in a tournament where our old skills were more useful than book knowledge. You haven't retired from battle, either."

Nel sighed, and for a second she looked a lot older than she had during their journey. "I try to keep up, but diplomacy keeps me from practicing too much. Of course, I hope that soon my skills will be tested once more." She looked meaningfully at Albel.

He frowned and looked away. "Romero is mine. No matter how much you push to join the battle, the King of Airyglyph will not give you permission to roam the dungeons at will."

"Perhaps I do not need permission," Nel said stubbornly. "If the foe truly has the power to threaten our whole world, I do not think the responsibility of vanquishing it should rest on one person's shoulders."

"Very well. I will tell my King to send for you if he starts to smell the scent of my rotting corpse coming from the dungeon. Do not anticipate any word from him before then." He scowled at Nel, and left the house. Sophia glanced out the window to see whether he would leave the place entirely, but he seemed content to sit sulkily by the water outside.

Nel pursed her lips. "As you see, Albel has not matured much since we last saw each other. Poxy foreigner can't bring himself to ask for help, even though I know he's had quite a few scrapes with death in Romero's maze. No matter. I know other ways into the Airyglyph dungeons."

With that, she seemed to put the matter of Romero and Albel out of her mind. "Speaking of impossible missions, I have heard some rumors of what you are here to do. I tell you: don't. The Ruins of Mosel are a historical gem, but we do not mind if we must let them go. You should not venture anywhere near the ruins if you care for your lives."

Fayt shook his head. "Nel, ecological patterns being what they are, the current state of the ruins could wreak havoc on Elicoor II in the future. It may take millennia – but I'm not willing to take any chances. Besides, if all the executioners are gone, maybe I'll finally feel like our journey's over."

Nel looked at him sharply. "Perhaps you should see a mental healer. Some soldiers cannot let the fight go, even when war is over. Even if you get rid of all the executioners, you might not be able to relax. That is a different matter entirely."

"Regardless," Fayt said. "The Ruins of Mosel have to be cleared out, and I am one of ten humanoids capable of entering the ruins without becoming a part of the frozen landscape."

Sophia sighed, folding her hands in front of her. If only Nel could dissuade Fayt. She knew it was hopeless; she had tried herself.

"I have been there," Nel said. "Seen the hordes of executioners. More even than there were on Styx. Completely frozen, but who's to say they'll stay that way once you thin the ranks? I tried to chip away at them from the outside, and the ones on the fringes started to escape rather than clustering around the Sacred Orb as they had done. To get all of them, you'd have to go deep underground with the Sacred Orb and fight your way out, until none were left. What if you kill one, and all the others reawaken to trap you where you stand? Your lives are worth more than that. If I were you, I would wonder what my commander had to gain from my demise. This is a suicide mission."

Fayt set his chin stubbornly. "I appreciate your concern, but nothing you say can stop me. If you have nothing to give me but discouragement, I will take my leave of you."

"Pigheaded idiot. You always were." Nel looked at Sophia, and the concern Sophia saw in the older woman's face was enough to squeeze her heart. Nel had been the one to take her hand that night before their journey to the firewall. She remembered Nel's whispered words: encouragement, comfort, assurance that many of her warrior maidens suffered from the same paralyzing fear on the eve of battle. The normally distant woman had showed Sophia a glimpse of the capable commander who took precautions to make sure all her warriors were in shape before making them face any challenges.

However, Nel was about to accuse Fayt of neglecting Sophia's needs, and Sophia could not bear to be used as leverage in the argument.

"It's the right thing to do," she said unwillingly. "We have considered the consequences, and are prepared to face them."

"You are willing to die for your Federation?" Nel asked pointedly. It could have been a hiss.

"For the future of Elicoor," Fayt said. "For the end of 4D's interference in 3D space, something we may have only our own minds to blame for."

Nel walked out the door much like Albel had done. Fayt turned to Sophia. "Did you mean what you said?"

Sophia looked out the window. "Maybe. It's what I would like to believe." Nel's words settled into her mind like splinters. They were hard, unpleasant truths. She wished she could extract them.

"Let's go see if Nel will let us go despite herself. I'm afraid she might try to stop us with force." Fayt left, too.

Sophia let out a long sigh. Then, resolutely deciding to stop feeling sorry for herself, she followed Fayt out the door to an almost amusing tableau. Like three points of an isosceles triangle, Fayt, Nel and Albel stood facing each other, arms folded, trying to stare each other down. She couldn't help it: a laugh bubbled out of her at the sheer ridiculousness of it.

The laugh worked like magic. Arms unfolded, and as a unit they turned to look at her. Sophia covered her smiling mouth.

"Sorry," she said meekly. "But… well, I've never seen a three-way staring contest before. Seems a little difficult." Nel and Albel looked askance while Fayt smiled, a little confused.

Sophia sighed. She wasn't used to making the decisions. If she did, she whispered them to Fayt and he tried to have them carried out. This time, however, it seemed her companions were more clueless than she was.

"None of us are going to agree," Sophia said. "None of us like what the others are doing. Fayt will always try to fix things; it's in his genetic make-up just as solidly as the destruction gene. Albel will always try to find new ways to get his fix of battle, and if he can save the world in the process that's a bonus, but he's never going to want a second-in-command. Nel will always try to save her companions, and if she has to beat them up to keep them from getting themselves killed, she will. All in all, we're stuck, and unless we agree to disagree, none of us are going anywhere."

"I don't have time for this!" Albel hissed. He made as if to walk away, but a flash of Nel's daggers froze him in place. He dropped to a crouch.

"What about you?" Nel asked. It seemed that she hoped Sophia would be on her side. In truth, she was, but that didn't change anything.

"I want to make sure everyone gets home safe when everything's said and done," she said, a little sadly. "However much I would like to stunlock them and keep them safe."

Nel let out a gust of air and sheathed her knives, turning away. "I suppose, if you can let them go endanger themselves, so can I. I've always got my girls. If the two of you get yourself killed, it won't be on my conscience," she told Fayt and Albel sternly. She looked to the side. "But, Sophia, if you want to stay with me, you're welcome in our ranks. There's no need for you to get yourself killed on somebody else's mission."

Sophia shook her head. "I told you, I need to get Fayt home safe. But I appreciate the offer."

The redhead looked down, then walked away resolutely, shoulders square. She was not going to argue any further, but she was not going to watch them make mistakes. Sophia supposed Nel had seen her share of casualties, and she was ready to add three more to the tally. The redhead just didn't want to stand by, helpless, as they were added.

With Nel gone, the tension eased. Albel looked at Fayt and Sophia, then shrugged.

"Never seen her walk away like that before. She would help you, but that Clair woman has commanded her not to go anywhere near the Mosel Dunes. The motto 'what Clair doesn't know won't hurt her,' doesn't work when the only thing likely to return to Clair is a corpse." Albel shrugged again. "The red-haired maggot might be right. I know a death mission when I see one."

Fayt raised an eyebrow. "And this thing with Romero isn't a death mission?"

Albel grinned. "It is. Why else would I accept it?"

"The only kind of mission you'd undertake is a death mission. Right." Fayt looked distasteful. "So what's your advice?"

"Heh. Don't get killed."

Albel tossed a bundle to Fayt and started walking off. Before he was out of hearing, he turned to look at them and drew his sword, gesturing.

"And when you come back, kill the people who sent you out to die."

The cloak swirled as Albel turned anew, and soon he was out of sight. Sophia's throat was tight. Both warriors had indicated they believed Fayt and Sophia were unlikely to return from their journey unscathed. Sophia swallowed the lump in her throat. Those warriors were from an underdeveloped planet, she reasoned. What did they know?

Fayt turned to her, unfurling the bundle from Albel. It was the Aqua Veil, a precious item that would keep them from drying out in the Mosel Dunes. Inside was another bundle, this one a supply pack that Fayt slung over his shoulder. He held out his hand. "Will you go with me, my lady?"

Sophia stepped forward, taking his hand. _Till death do us part, _she thought, hoping that it would be a time in the distant future.

x x x

When they turned the corner in the dunes, it was clear why Nel had tried to stop them. The sight of all those shrouded, spiked, and long-limbed creatures frozen in time was enough to send shivers down Sophia's spine. They were like waxen figures, though the Proclaimer types hovered in the air with no stands to hold them up, wings unfurled in a sick mimicry of flight.

"Fayt, this is…" Sophia couldn't quite find the words.

"Horrible. We'll make it go away." Fayt looked resolute, but Sophia noticed how pale he was. No amount of combat training could prepare a warrior for such a battle. Even if the monsters did not reawaken as their numbers diminished, it would take hours, perhaps even days, to eliminate all of them. And there were more inside the ruins.

"How do we even start?" Sophia asked, her voice a weak trill.

Fayt shrugged. "I suppose we simply walk forth and kill them as we go along, if we want to test what Nel told us. Perhaps I could use the destruction gene, despite what Blair said…"

His brown furrowed, then his eyebrows rose in surprise. "Nothing. I can't seem to target anything within the time freeze. Figures. As long as these antivirus programs are non-functioning, they don't register as existent in the 3D universe, and I can't get to them. Blair was right."

They walked onwards towards the field, and as they got closer, breezes disappeared from existence. All there was to breathe was still air. Sophia was almost surprised when breathing proved to be possible. She took a deep lungful as if to test it.

"Well, nothing for it," she said grimly, raising her staff. A purple beam shot up from her. She commanded the sky to let fall the meteor swarm her magic infused it with, and a sea of red opened up before them. When the fiery glow cleared, Sophia could see that the number of executioners was diminished, but it was still far from being halved. Already she felt a drain on her strength as the powerful spell sapped her energy. Some of the executioners on the edge seemed to have woken up, and they moved, slow and buggy, seeming to come towards them. It was clear they were trying to escape the time freeze. She saw what Nel had meant: they would have to fight out from the inside, so the executioners would keep moving towards the place where time flowed. She took care of the awakened executioners quickly.

"Hm," Fayt intoned, echoing her thoughts. "Like this, we'll be at it for days, and we may not get all of them. We've got to find a way to get them all in one place, and then get rid of them. What was Nel's idea again?"

The idea was an unpleasant one, but it was the only thing they had. "She said we could move the Sacred Orb to the underground dungeon," she repeated. "The very back, I'd think. The executioners are meant to be unconsciously drawn to it. If we move it to the end of the dungeon, they should be trapped inside before they regain their senses enough to escape the timelock properly." It was a weak idea, but it was something. Fayt nodded.

Once more, they held hands as they strode forward. They took great care not to get too close to any of the waxen statues. Sophia imagined that eyes watched them as they traversed the Mosel Dunes, then the ruins. At some points in the narrow corridors it was impossible to avoid the frozen creatures completely, and Sophia nearly wept in fear and disgust as she sidled past a Proclaimer, feeling the rough twill of the woman's habit against her shin. Somehow, the unmoving beings were even more intimidating than the live ones.

When they finally got to the room with the Sacred Orb, Sophia was ready to collapse in a heap and Connect her way out of that horrid place. She looked at Fayt and saw that he was scared, too, though he had himself under control.

"Sophia, you don't have to be here for this. I'll take them on. Go back to Surferio: use your connection gene. I don't want you anywhere near these freaks if they decide to wake up."

"And leave you here by yourself?" she asked, her voice high. She wanted more than anything to leave, but to leave without Fayt – to leave knowing that the mission was dangerous…

The tears in her eyes spilled over, and she put her hands in front of her face. "No. I'm going back with you. It's just… they're just…"

"I know," Fayt said. "They're worse than the real thing. It's like walking through a graveyard where the bodies are above ground. I'll keep you safe, Sophia. You won't have to touch one of them again – I'll blast away any that block our way."

The thought of obliterating whatever executioners got in the way was a comforting one, and she nodded, picking up the Sacred Orb. It hummed to her touch, though nothing happened as she took it from the dais – the door to the firewall had not been there to start with. The weight of the OPA was somehow soothing in her arms, and she kept it clasped against chest.

Again, they sidled past the gruesome shapes. A large Enforcer type blocked the entrance to the underground, and Fayt made true on his promise: bits of Enforcer were all that was left after he blasted through it.

As they navigated through the dark tunnels, their footsteps the only sound, Sophia felt a strange amusement come over her. The eerie shapes that had been so frightening before seemed suddenly comical. She didn't let the laughter she felt escape her: if she did, she wouldn't be able to stop it. She knew enough about stress to recognize hysteria when she felt it.

When she had the hysteria under control, they had come far enough in to see the end of the dungeon. They were in a sand-floored room not unlike the rooms upstairs. Sophia nestled the Sacred Orb in the sand at her feet and shrugged off her pack.

She frowned at the Convictor who stood motionless in the center of the room, its arms mid-swing. "Shall we start?" she asked Fayt. He nodded.

"Save your energy, and kill them as simply as possible. We're in a confined space, so big attacks won't do us any good."

They began their onslaught, killing the creatures quickly and with little effort. At that moment in time, "executioner" would have been a name better fitted for Fayt or Sophia. They moved out from that little room as the supply of waxen figures ran out. Here, in the dark, dank passageways of stone, the executioners had recovered a little. They floated or walked mindlessly to the room with the Sacred Orb, and Fayt and Sophia killed them quickly. As their numbers began to dwindle, the executioners put up more of a fight. Fayt told Sophia to get her pack from the other room: they were beginning to need the recovery supplies stored there.

When she returned to the large underground room, she stared in despair at the two entrances. Monsters appeared haltingly from under the archways, still hampered by the time lock. She tried to draw strength from the cold flagstones beneath her feet, hoping the Eternal Sphere would supply her with the force she needed to vanquish the threat to its existence. She didn't know if it worked: the universe had never been famous for being particularly caring towards its inhabitants, no matter how pure their intentions. Without further ado, she threw herself into the battle.

It seemed like hours, that fight: no matter how long they fought, there were always more enemies to kill. It was manageable, though, until Fayt and Sophia had killed enough executioners to allow time to flow normally. Drafts started to flow from dark corners once more, and the waxen figures were hampered no longer.

Fayt unleashed his more powerful attacks, taking down multiple enemies at once – but it took more than one attack, now, to defeat them. Sophia kept him supplied with a steady stream of healing, and she tossed recovery items his way when his focus wandered and exhaustion seemed ready to sweep over him. She stayed at a distance – until the executioners started really closing in. Then they fought, back-to-back, defending each other with life and limb. Sophia was afraid her staff would fall from her sweaty palms, but she managed to cling to it with increasingly desperate fingers.

"This isn't good," Fayt said. He sounded surprisingly calm. "By my calculations, at least a quarter of them have yet to arrive here. If they swarm us…"

Sophia looked over her shoulder at one of the stone arches, and saw that executioners poured out from under it, compared to the trickle she had seen before. Apparently, the worst was yet to come. She rummaged through her pack, but nothing besides a few sprigs of lavender and basil remained there.

"Fayt?" she said, and was appalled by the quiver in her voice. He grunted in reply as he kicked a foe aside.

"We're out of berries. There's nothing left to help us. And there's still so many…"

Fayt didn't respond, though his face betrayed his feelings: he was scared, just like she was. She choked on a sob, then remembered her resolution to stop feeling sorry for herself. Her attacks resumed, and she fought like a mechanized being. She wanted not to feel. The end was coming – she could see it coming, shrouded, spiked and long-limbed, through the arch in the stone wall. Though she kept her emotions in check and focused only on the next arrow, the next firebolt, the next thunder flare, she felt hot tears spilling down her cheeks. They were not going to make it out of this alive. She'd had her happy ending, and life had moved right on past it. Now came the real ending, and it was not a happy one.

"I love you," Sophia said between blows, trying to block some of the swipes at her body with her staff. The Enforcer before her stuck her arm, ripping the fabric and the skin. She was losing blood rapidly from a thousand such cuts, and her exhaustion was threatening to overwhelm her.

Suddenly Fayt fell to the ground before her, launched by the whirling attack of a shrouded Proclaimer. He was on his back, winded, struggling to get up. Sophia extended a hand and pulled him up, then struggled to straighten herself. The Enforcer from before struck again, but she summoned Ifrit to block him and send him staggering backward. Fayt recovered in time to protect her from a Proclaimer's attack, but it was a narrow save.

Fayt was moving slowly, and she could see he was badly hurt She sent the healing spell before even considering whether she had enough energy to spare. She didn't. Her legs gave out under her and she crumpled to the floor, her vision a haze.

"Sophia!" came Fayt's voice through the fog of threatening unconsciousness. He was a blur all around her, deflecting attacks from the enemies they faced. "Are you all right?"

"I can't – I have no…" She had nothing left, not even the ability to properly put her thoughts into words.

Sophia recognized the blinding blue-white light before her as Fayt's ethereal blast. There was a temporary lapse in the fighting as the front ranks burst into flame, keeping the swarming enemy at bay. Fayt knelt by Sophia and gathered her in his arms.

"Can you use your connection gene to get out of here?" he asked, desperation in his voice. Sophia tried to. She reached out with her mind, trying to reach for any place outside the Ruins. She could see the places in her mind's eye, spread out like a map. But when she reached – it was like trying to fasten a belt around too wide a girth. Nothing she did could get the Eternal Sphere to fold for her, now of all times. She simply didn't have the power. Fayt didn't have to ask: he saw her hopes crushed by the fresh blow. There would be no easy way out.

"Do you trust me?" he asked. His voice still sounded like she was underwater, but she could make out the words.

"Of course, Fayt." She blinked several times to clear her vision, then wished she hadn't. Fayt's mouth was set in a grim line, and his overly bright eyes were fixed on her face. Her stomach plummeted as she realized he was committing her face to memory. The only reason he would do that was if he thought they wouldn't see each other again. Though she had accepted the idea that she would die there, she would never accept the notion that she and Fayt would never meet again. Her tears started anew, surprising her. She had thought she was too exhausted to cry.

"Don't cry, Sophia," he said gently, wiping the tears away with a bloodstained hand. "I'm going to release the full power of my destruction gene on them. You'll be safe. Promise me you'll do your best to get out of here alive when they're gone."

He was going to die. No, worse: he was going to die, and she was going to live. She shook her head, sobs racking her body. She clasped his hand with all the strength she had left, willing him to understand what she could not say. He couldn't leave her; she'd rather die together than live without him. It was melodramatic, but it was true.

The ranks were closing in again; time was short. Fayt brushed the sweat-plastered hair from her forehead and kissed it. "I know you're tired, Sophia. Fight for me. Fight to get out, if I'm not there to help you. Join Nel's warriors, or help the others in Quark reveal what the Federation has kept hidden. Just live, for me."

He smiled the sweet smile that had often made her heart turn over in the past. It did the same now, though his face was dirty with the blood and gore of battle. Sophia willed the image to imprint on her retina to carry with her always, then let go of his hand, stilling her emotions. They remained as a dull ache as she watched Fayt stand up, holding his bloodstained sword.

He jumped into the air, and the wings of his power bore him up. He was a pure globe of light in that dark place, and the executioners drew back from the brightness. Sophia didn't stop watching him, though the radiance burned her eyes.

The light seemed to retract slightly, entering Fayt. Then, like a wave, it burned through the air around them, piercing the monsters before them and making them disappear as if they had never existing. The light continued, moving through all of the underground, taking out every last one of their opponents while clearly avoiding Sophia. Finally the light receded, and Fayt's wings disappeared. He dropped like a stone and crashed onto the rocky ground a few feet from her, the crash like a thunderclap in the sudden, unearthly silence. The breath stuck in Sophia's throat. Was he still alive?

She dragged herself to her fallen friend, inch by aching inch. After what seemed like an eternity, she had reached him, and she laid his head in her lap, looking desperately for movement in his chest. There: a flutter of breath, barely worth noticing. She placed a hand on his chest and closed her eyes, trying to reach for the cause of the damage with her healing power.

What she sensed there broke the tight control she had held over her emotions, and she sank into despair. His body was a mess, inside and out. His lung had been punctured by one of the ribs that had cracked in the fall, but it wasn't that sucking the life out of him. Blood vessels had ruptured, and he was bleeding out on the inside. She tried to send her remaining power into him, but it barely warmed her fingertips, flittering out before it reached the damage. The bleeding went on, unstaunched. He had maybe an hour, perhaps two, but she knew he would never wake up again. She was alone.

She didn't think of how she would be able to leave the silent underground without even the energy to crawl. That didn't matter: either she would or would not, and for the moment she did not care one way or another. Instead, she wondered how she would be able to face the moment his last breath left him. For now he still breathed, though it was labored. As long as he was alive she could push the pain forward to some time in the future, but if those painful breaths were to end…

She couldn't imagine a world without him. He had been there constantly throughout her childhood as a companion, until her childish affection blossomed into teen desire. Then he had become everything: her friend, still, but her first love also, with all the madness and joy a first love brings. He had driven her crazy in those days, acting like a perfect, gallant prince one moment, then transforming into a thick-headed idiot moments later. After the events that ended in Luther's demise, she had tried to rid herself of him and the uncomfortable longing she continued to feel for him. Even then, he had been with her as an ideal to measure other men up to, despite her efforts not to. And then, to find that her love was requited, have all her dreams come true, and then have it taken away – she clutched at her head, wanting the thoughts to go away.

It would be easy to fall asleep. Already her vision brightened and dimmed to the beat of her heart, a sure sign that she was on the edge of losing consciousness – she had lost blood, too, if not a fatal amount. She feared to lay her head down, though, for she knew that if she fell asleep, she would wake to find that the rasping breaths had stopped. How can you sleep knowing that when you wake up, the person you love most in the world will have left you? She stared fixedly at her dying lover, regretting every charged silence since his decision to hare off to save the world yet again. Perhaps she had been a little vindictive, not wanting to be soft and loving when he was purposefully putting their lives in danger. She had been annoyed at him. Like humans since the dawn of time, she'd squandered her chances, and now she would not have another. She couldn't help hating herself as she sat in that dark underground room, Fayt's head cradled in her lap, her heart filled with regret and unfulfilled wishes, waiting for the person she loved most in all the world to die. If Luther had designed a hell, this was it.

Eventually she could no longer sit up straight, and the decision to sleep was made for her. Even self-loathing could no longer keep her befuddled mind occupied. She curled up next to Fayt and laid her head to rest on his unbroken shoulder, her heart clenching at the thought that it would be the last time she would fall asleep thus, hearing his heartbeat under her ear. She pushed the pain away.

_When I wake up, I'll deal with it_, she thought resolutely before allowing the darkness at the edge of her vision to consume her. She hoped beyond hope that she would not have to wake up.


	13. Departure

Title: To Claim and Reclaim

A/N: Okay, I lied. This and then an epilogue. I changed my mind and didn't want to leave off where I ended the last chapter. Love from me!

Disclaimer: SO3 not mine. Still.

**Departure**

Sophia dreamt that a bright light came from the arch the monsters had passed under an hour ago. In her dream, she raised her head to see three silhouettes outlined in the light, one man and two women. Blue reflected off the hair of one of the female figures, and an ache seemed to resume in her chest. There was a shout, and the figures started to run. Their footsteps resounded on the stone floor, and Sophia wished the dream was less vivid, for the noise hurt her ears and made her turn away from it, wanting to find a more peaceful dream.

There were hands on her shoulders, moving her away from the body she lay next to. She struggled instinctively, wanting to stay where she was and wait for better dreams to find her. It registered that the body belonged to Fayt, and she struggled harder to stay by his side, though in her weakened state it did nothing. The man knelt down beside his prone form.

"Is he alive?" asked the person who had dragged her back.

"Barely. We'll have to move quickly. Mind lending me a hand?"

"No problem. Step aside, old man."

She dreamt that the three voices belonged to Maria, Cliff and Mirage, and that they had arrived in time to save Fayt's life. It was a cruel dream, she thought.

x x x

This time, she knew she was awake. She did not know, however, how she had gotten into the comfortable bed she was in.

A flicker of hope lit within, then grew quickly to consume her. She had slept in a stupor, but she remembered one dream – one wondrous dream – where rescue had come on time, and a deep voice had assured her that she and Fayt were going to be okay. No matter how comfortable the bed, she had to know whether her hope was founded.

"Whoa there!"

Sophia blinked at the voice's origin. "Cliff?"

"Hey, little girl. You had quite the battle, from what I saw. How do you feel?" He leaned forward as she glanced around. She was in a little room with white walls, a bed, a desk, and two chairs, one of which was occupied by a Klausian giant. It looked like every ship's cabin she'd ever been in, minus the Klausian.

"Fayt?" she asked in a small voice. Cliff answered immediately.

"Alive. Looks like he'll recover, though he was pretty beat up when we got to you." Sophia shivered, then nodded. She remembered sensing those wounds, knowing she could do nothing about them.

"I'm so – you guys were so – I can't believe he's alive." Her emotions felt frazzled. She felt relief, but she was so numbed from all the conflicting feelings that she couldn't quite fathom it.

"Hey, least we could do." Cliff smiled. "Besides, it's our job. Protect people from the evil Federation, that's Quark to the core."

Sophia frowned. "The Federation? Those were executioners, Cliff, not federation soldiers."

Cliff's smiling mouth turned into a grim line, and he regarded her with the weight of his years showing in his face. "They were executioners, yeah, but they weren't dealt with the way the others were."

"They couldn't have been, Cliff: no one could get to the Sacred Orb because of the time freeze. The only way to get rid of them would have been to blow up Elicoor II."

"How about getting one of you to take the Sacred Orb somewhere else, then having you kill enough of them to undo the time freeze, then transporting them one by one as they wake up and blowing up the end destination? No, Sophia. They gave you faulty information, knowing mighty well it could get you killed."

"But Blair –"

Cliff held up his hand. "Blair is a wonderful woman, but she doesn't know shit about your abilities. She saw you fight in 4D space and must have been impressed – impressed enough to believe the Federation when it told her you'd have no trouble killing the horde of executioners in Mosel. It would have been the least risky way, were it not that you ran out of supplies. I don't think she endangered you on purpose, but she didn't have all the right information to keep you safe, either."

"But why would the Federation want us dead?" she asked with growing dread. She had a pretty good idea why, though she hoped it was wrong.

"You were probably just going to be collateral damage. Fayt, though – he's not the most popular guy on their list. He's the new atomic bomb, and there's only one way to disarm him."

Sophia clutched the blanket, staring out in front of her. Much as she wanted to deny it, she couldn't help seeing the logic in Cliff's words. The Federation didn't like leaving loose ends. She shivered to think how close it had come to getting what it wanted.

"Can I see him?"

Cliff shrugged. "I don't know. Can you? You'd have to get out of bed first."

Sophia pushed the blankets back and placed her feet on the floor carefully. She was relieved to see she was dressed decently enough in a plain white shift. Good: she didn't feel up to getting properly dressed. Now that she was no longer at repose, she could feel the bone-deep ache of sustained physical effort throughout her body. Her arms felt as limp as noodles.

"Here." Cliff held out his arm for her to balance on. Slowly but surely, she edged her weight off the bed and onto her shaky legs. They held. "Okay there?"

"Oh, Cliff," she said smilingly. "I always thought Klausians would make bad nursemaids – maybe I was wrong."

Cliff put his free hand on his hip and assumed a manly expression, but he kept his arm out to steady her. When she took a step, she was glad for his help.

"Hey, I just didn't want to sit in there with Fayt anymore. Too depressing." When he saw Sophia's anxious expression, he shook his head. "Oh, don't worry. He'll wake up… but it could take months, even years, and it might be a while before we can properly assess the damages. Seeing him comatose like that makes me angrier than ever, knowing that the Federation consciously put him in danger. He's no weakling, but I wish I could have been there."

"You'd have told us not to do it, though," argued Sophia as she shuffled along at his side. "Nel wanted to fight us, too, but I think she was doubtful she could take us both on."

"Ah, I sure did wonder about that. I knew Nel could be counted on to try and stop you youngsters. She's got a good head on her shoulders."

Cliff had a dreamy expression on his face, and Sophia raised her eyebrows. "And a great body besides?"

"Let a man have his fantasies!" he told her severely.

"I should have thought you had plenty of them, working with Mirage and all." Sophia was happy to tease him: it took her mind off the effort of moving one foot in front of the other.

"A man can never have too many fantasies. What else can he survive on in his old age? I'm not a spring chicken like you."

Sophia glanced up at that. Cliff often joked about his advancing age, but he sounded almost as if he believed the jokes this time. He didn't look a day over thirty to her. He met her inquisitive gaze and smiled, decreasing that perceived age by another couple years.

Of course, he might age a decade in the time it would take them to get to Fayt's room at this rate. Sophia scowled at her slow progress, though it cheered her when they were close enough to the door for it to open automatically.

"Oh, screw it," Cliff said, and scooped her up bridal style. "Exercise is the best medicine, but I sure as hell ain't a doctor."

Sophia laughed as Cliff's long strides took them to Fayt's room in a fraction of the time it would have taken her.

When the automatic door whooshed open, the laugh died in her throat. Her grasp on Cliff tightened at the sight of the pale figure on the bed. Cliff set her down in the chair by the bedside.

"He's steady," came a voice from behind. Sophia hadn't even registered Mirage was present when she'd come in.

Sophia reached out to hold Fayt's clay cold hand. Her face screwed up in an effort not to cry, though she wasn't sure what she felt the need to cry about. Was it happiness? It didn't feel like it.

A large hand touched her shoulder. "You thought you'd lost him, huh?" Cliff had seen her face change.

She nodded carefully. It was hard to see him like this, with his skin indistinguishable from the sheets due to his sickly pallor. His hair looked like a random splash of color on the blank tableau. The sight of him brought back the horrid aftermath of the battle that had so nearly killed them, and her chest felt constrained at the memory.

"I thought I was going to watch him die slowly," she admitted, voice small. "I couldn't think of anything worse in the world."

"Worse than watching someone you love die?" Cliff wondered. "No, I'm not sure there is anything worse. He'll get better, Sophia."

"And in the meantime, I'll get panic attacks whenever I watch him sleep," she said ruefully, trying to banish the tangle of fear with humor. "He'll sure get tired of that."

"After what the two of you have been through, I'm not sure he'll ever get tired of waking up with you by his side. He came very close to losing everything. He'll not go a day without thanking his lucky stars."

"If he remembers," Mirage reminded her colleague. Sophia's stomach clenched.

"He might not?"

"Unlikely, but possible. We are almost certain his memory was not affected, but sometimes these long periods of recovery can have a negative impact." Mirage sounded apologetic – or at least, as apologetic as her robotic monotone ever got.

"I suppose we'll find out," Sophia said, telling herself to be calm. For the moment, she wouldn't worry about that possibility. They were alive. If she had to, she would make Fayt fall in love with her again – and this time, she wouldn't let the process take years.

They sat in silence for a little while, each of them lost in thought. Sophia was not experiencing inner turmoil; her emotions had quieted when she grew used to the sight of Fayt's still form. Instead, she wondered what the future held – whether Fayt would recover fully, or whether he would have some disabilities left despite the excellent care the Klausians were providing. If he were disabled, perhaps he would not go haring off at the first sign of danger. That was not an unpleasant idea, but she knew she would hate to see that gallant part of him snuffed out. His heroism might get them into trouble, but it was an integral part of him.

Eventually, Cliff pointed out that Fayt wasn't the only invalid in the room. Sophia didn't argue when he helped her out of her chair and started to walk her back to her own room. She found that she tired easily, and the expedition depleted her reserves. Though Cliff forced her to eat some tasteless food, it wasn't long before she sunk back into a deep slumber.

x x x

Her body was almost back to its usual strength, though it still weakened suddenly from time to time. She'd be walking without a problem when a wave of exhaustion would hit her, and she'd be hard put to find a place to catch her breath. This was one of those times. She stumbled over to a chair and sank into it, breathing heavily.

Well, she couldn't have picked a better spot. The chair looked out of the ship's starboard windows, and the view of one of Elicoor's oceans stretched out before her.

Footsteps sounded further down the hallway, coming closer. Steel boots clanged against the floor, and a voice asked, "Sophia? Are you okay?"

The captain had put in an appearance.

"I'm fine, Maria. Just tired." She tried a weak smile.

"You push yourself too hard. Don't tire yourself out." Her voice was brusque, but Sophia knew she meant well.

"I won't."

Maria came to stand next to Sophia's chair, gazing out the window. There was a silence while both women looked out over the ocean. Sophia didn't know what to say. She hadn't seen Maria since she and Fayt had been separate, and she had always suspected that Maria might feel romantically about Fayt. As Maria had saved their lives, the last thing Sophia wanted to do was step on those feelings. There were so many unsaid things between them – could she just skirt the subject entirely? Sophia didn't think so.

"Maria…" she started. The blue-haired woman held up a hand.

"Sophia, I know that you and Fayt are in love. It doesn't bother me."

Sophia sat up, looking at her companion. She felt relieved that the subject had been broached, though she had no idea how Maria had known what she was thinking.

"I did entertain the thought," Maria said with a rueful smile at Sophia. "I thought that since we were both genetically altered human beings, we'd have a lot in common. And we do."

Sophia tilted her head. She sensed a 'but'.

"Sadly, we have so much in common that we are horribly incompatible. At least, that's what I've come to believe." Maria's voice was no different than any other time. She could have been explaining basic math, for all the inflection her voice had.

"How so?" Sophia asked, confused. Maria's total lack of embarrassment made it much easier to discuss the awkward matter.

"Too stubborn," Maria said, smiling. "Both of us like to tackle issues head-on, and if we disagreed, I have a feeling we'd sooner split than compromise. I know I'm a little bossy."

Sophia couldn't help it – she giggled. "Oh, I can so imagine you two waging war over which is the best shortcut. Yes, you are both stubborn. But I'm sure you could work around that." Why she was trying to convince Maria that she and Fayt were a good match was a mystery to her, but she felt she owed the woman an honest opinion.

Maria shook her head. "The way you are with him – the way you can get him to change his mind without ever letting him know that's what you're doing – well, that's a unique talent that I don't share. I think that if I found a partner for life, it would have to be someone easygoing."

Sophia nodded. She could accept the compliment Maria was offering her.

Maria shrugged and smiled. "So that is why I did not pursue Fayt. The reason he didn't pursue me – well… it was pretty plain to see his heart was already elsewhere."

That surprised Sophia. As far as she knew, Fayt had only recently discovered the nature of his love for her. Maria saw her questioning gaze and shook her head.

"He treated you differently. At first, I thought he treated you just like he would have treated a younger sister, but then… no big brother's that good. He's always aware of your presence somehow, and he adjusts automatically. You're his magnetic north."

"Thank you, Maria," Sophia said quietly. Maria's words had woken a longing in her, and she felt more impatient than ever for Fayt to wake up. The time it would take him to recover stretched out before her, an abyss of unknown depth and certain loneliness. It had been three days since the rescue. The rescue: another reason to be thankful to Maria. "I hope you do find your person soon."

"Hey, don't go feeling sorry for me," she said lightly. "I'm not in any hurry to settle down."

After flashing a roguish grin Sophia's way, Maria clomped off to another part of the ship, looking cheerful. Sophia smiled as she watched her companion leave. She didn't think Maria would have any trouble finding a man who'd want her. The only challenge would be finding a man who could keep up.

x x x

She couldn't stay on the ship any longer. She'd spent hours by his bedside, hoping, pleading – even praying, though she didn't believe in any gods. However much she loved him, she didn't want to stay cooped up on Quark's ship while they resumed business. Cliff would let her know when he woke up, but until then she would try to make a life for herself. That way, if it turned out Fayt had lost his memories, she might be able to live with it.

So it was that Sophia watched Quark's ship depart, standing alone at the dock. It felt like years since she and Fayt had departed Earth, thinking they had one last mission before they could cash in on their happily ever after.

Sophia turned and walked away from the station, the sun bright in her eyes. She wasn't sure what she would do, but for the time being that was perfectly all right. No matter how old she felt, she was still young, and if the Federation got in her way she would connect past them and alert every media outlet she knew how to get to. They'd be happy enough to have her on the show.

She shrugged to settle her backpack more firmly on her shoulders and kept moving, ignoring the way the sun made her eyes tear up. She was done crying.


	14. Epilogue

Title: To Claim and Reclaim

A/N: It's amazing to think how long I've been working on this. I started the fic just before going on a trip to the Caribbean, and finished it on a plane ride from Dallas to Orange County. Seemed pretty fitting. It's traveled a pretty long way with me. At the same time, I'm pretty sure I shouldn't upload fics before I'm done with them - there's so much I'd change! But it's done. Onward to original fiction now that I have this off my chest!

Disclaimer: This scrawny epilogue is the last piece of SO3 that I'll ever own, and it's not even real SO3.

* * *

**Epilogue**

Fake stars shimmered in the ceiling, providing a blue twilight glow that did little to illuminate the bar's patrons. Sophia thought the effect might be intentional – that, or the light was dimmed to hide the dirt she could feel on all the surfaces, a sticky coating of whatever beverage had toppled over last, and whatever had grown on top of that. Sanitation regulations were clearly being ignored.

She clamped her mouth shut, determined not to make any comment. It had been almost two years since she returned to Earth, and she had realized long ago that any complaint she made was taken altogether too seriously. While the Federation was very careful not to mention her, everyone else still saw her as half of the star couple that had dominated in the Ultimate Clash. They also saw her as the girl who'd come back from her vacation afterwards alone, saying nothing of the boy she'd been so passionately in love with when she left. Anything she did say was publicized immediately, as if to make up for her silence on other matters.

The first month had been the hardest. Gossip news agencies everywhere produced headlines proclaiming to know the truth behind "Sophia's Heartbreak" – none of them even close to the truth. She hadn't told anyone what had happened, though a Federation representative had questioned her a few days after she returned.

She'd been on her way to campus after receiving a call from her mentor asking if she was too famous to go to school anymore. Imagining her scholarly mentor seeing all the ridiculous gossip articles about her was downright embarrassing, and she'd jumped at a chance to meet with him. When she beamed into the transporter near campus, there was someone waiting for her.

"Miss Esteed," he'd said nervously, grabbing her arm and drawing her aside. A few heads turned, but no one stuck around. She shook off his hand and glared.

"What is it?" she asked, wondering why she didn't feel more offended. She was used to being accosted by strangers by now, she supposed.

"Miss Esteed, ah –" he glanced around. "Would you like to find a private place, perhaps? I'm Markus, come to talk to you on behalf of the Federation."

Markus was a skinny man, but he puffed himself up with importance when he mentioned the Federation. Sophia tried not to hate him.

"Well, Markus, you can tell the Federation I never want to hear a thing from them again. I don't care what they offer me. I'm not a pawn. And if I die in any kind of accident, a few of my friends will make a lot of trouble for you. But I won't tell people about the Federation's secrets, if that's what they want to hear. Is that enough?"

He didn't look very surprised, though he put up a pretense. "Miss Esteed! Please, don't say such things! We merely wished to thank you for your – great service – and inquire about Mister Leingod's wellbeing."

A familiar, ragged wound opened at his less-than-subtle probing. It hurt worse, though, knowing what the Federation hoped the answer would be. "He's fine," she said. "Thanks for the concern. Now, if you could let me go –"

"Fine? But he's disappeared! Where is he?" Markus had his arms out to either side to block her way, as if to keep her from bolting towards campus. How old did he think she was?

"Safe. Go away." Her voice was flat, but it carried a tremor. She swallowed and attempted to move around him. Again, he got in the way. At this rate, she was going to have to wrestle her way through a rosebush to get past him, and he'd no doubt find a new way to block her path if she attempted it.

"Miss Esteed, I must insist that you come with me. You seem to be under the impression that the Federation has caused you harm – the last thing we'd do! Let us explain back at Earth headquarters –"

Sophia let out a long breath and decided this man had taken up enough of her time. She reached out with her mind, the folds and planes of the Eternal Sphere clear in her view, and _pulled_. It was the smallest jump she'd ever made, but it was worth it to hear Markus's surprised voice coming from ten paces behind her, exclaiming. She kept on walking, a smile on her face.

That was the first of their attempts to get back in her good graces. Since then, the attempts had become more subtle, making her hesitant to go anywhere. Any stranger she talked to could be a Federation operative, hoping to – what? Make absolutely sure she kept their secrets? They needn't have bothered. Sophia didn't want a revolution. She just wanted to help people, and hiding on an underdeveloped planet wasn't going to give her that opportunity. In the meantime, she was stuck hiding in her room or at the university, except for when classmates managed to drag her out with them – like today. The only reason she'd accepted the invitation was because it was the two-year anniversary of the battle in the Mosel Ruins and she knew better than to spend the evening alone.

"Sophia? Any opinions?" One of her classmates leaned forward, smiling. She had no idea what he was asking her about. Great. Her first social venture in months, and she wasn't even listening to what her companions were saying.

"Sorry, what were we discussing?"

"Sophia! Shame on you," another classmate scolded. "I hope you pay better attention in class than this. We were discussing whether exposing children to real animals is a good alternative to expensive immunotherapy. Never mind, though. We'll manage without your celebrity opinion." The girl sniffed, seeming offended. Sophia didn't blame her. A lot of people assumed she believed herself too important for normal company. In reality, she was too morose for it. The ever-cheerful girl from high school was lost, and she wasn't sure how to get her back. Maybe if Fayt…

_Not that again_, she told herself sternly. Cliff hadn't called for months, indicating no change. She had to stop waiting. And yet she carried Fayt with her, a shadow on a hospital bed. She wouldn't replace him while there was still hope. Couldn't replace him.

She was zoning out again, getting lost in memories. Her eyes tracked the movement of bar patrons, not really seeing them. Shadows moved about, dancing under the fake starlight or stumbling about drunkenly. She knew she was being a bore, but she couldn't shake off the contemplative mood. Maybe it was _because_ Cliff hadn't called in so long. Surely he could spare a moment to tell her what she could expect?

Her vision came into sharp focus when she saw her old roommate peeking into the bar, standing awkwardly in the entryway. Eliza looked slightly pale, though she waved when she saw Sophia. Sophia edged out of the booth she was in, but Eliza stepped back out. Did she want Sophia to follow her?

She moved forward, then found herself paralyzed as she saw who Eliza had stepped aside for. It was Fayt – alive, walking, looking pale but aware. She wanted to run, scream and cry at the same time, but she couldn't remember how to move her limbs. Instead she stood looking like an idiot, barely daring to breathe.

"Sophia," he said when he was close enough to be heard over the music. She stood gulping air. Her arms hung limply by her sides, hands useless. Fayt reached out to hold her hands between them, looking serious – and worried, and sad, and old. She hoped she wouldn't faint, though her unsteady breathing suggested she might.

"I put us in danger," he said, voice soft. "Knowingly. I was stupid – thought we could handle it. Stupid. Should have listened to Nel. And you. But you trusted me, and I – I messed up. I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive me."

It took her a while to grasp what he was saying. "I – what? Forgive?" He was really here. Awake, alive – why hadn't Cliff called?

He dropped her hands, gaze dropping. "I know it's a lot to ask. I understand you've moved on, but even if I can't be with you –"

Her peripheral nervous system resumed function. Up came her hands, covering his mouth until the torrent of nonsense stopped. She found she was laughing and crying at the same time, shaking her head like a lunatic. He looked at her, a cheeks flushing, and there was a break in the serious expression – a hesitant lifting of his brows, as if he wasn't sure whether to hope or not.

"Fayt, you are an idiot." She grabbed the front of his shirt and pressed her face into his chest, eyes streaming while her shoulders shook with laughter. "Not forgive you? I don't know how."

She looked at him just long enough to see the worried look replaced by a smile that made her heart flip over – but there was no time for that. A crowd was forming, and she grabbed Fayt's hand to run outside. Around the back of the bar, before anyone had thought to follow, she connected back to her apartment, barely caring whether people saw them disappear in thin air or not.

"Nice trick," Fayt said, sounding stunned. His speech had been useless, and now he seemed to be at a loss for words. Sophia hoped it wasn't because of his injuries. In her mind's eye, she saw him fall to the ground in the underground room, his unconscious body absorbing the blow on his back before his head whipped back to contact the stone. That was a hard blow…

"What's – what's the damage?" she asked quickly.

He raised his left hand, holding it out in front of him with the fingers spread. "I can't do much with this hand until the nerves regenerate. Cells are in place, but it's slow. I… cracked my head pretty well, but Cliff told me that if his words of wisdom couldn't get through this skull, neither could anything else." A tentative smile appeared on his lips.

Sophia took the hand he held up, examining it. "It'll keep you out of trouble for a while, hopefully."

"If – if you're not disgusted with me, I thought…"

She looked up at him, longing to brush the bright blue hair from his forehead. He stood unmoving, returning her stare until he dropped his gaze. When he moved to close the distance he stumbled and fell to his knees.

"Fayt!" Sophia tried to hold him up, tugging his hand. His other came up to cover hers. He looked up, and she felt her heart begin to race with a new emotion. Not a stumble, then – she'd seen him fall this way a thousand times, crashing briefly only to jump up and stab whatever had sent him to his knees – but an intentional drop to his knees. Her breath caught, and she felt her cheeks warming.

"Sophia – will you be with me? For good?"

"Yes, Fayt. Stop kneeling. Of course. It's not even a question." She pulled him back up, and this time he let her. She blinked hard several times, trying not to dissolve into happy, disbelieving tears. Fayt was here. He was himself. He was _hers_.

"What about the Federation?" she asked suddenly. She was relatively harmless, but they would rather do without Fayt. How would they live a normal life if they were always on the lookout for Federation spies?

"I don't know about you, but I'm getting tired of Earth. Yes, we can make more of a contribution to the universe from here, but haven't we done enough?"

Sophia stayed silent, trying not to let her disbelief show on her face. If he was about to say what she thought he was about to say, she wouldn't dare interrupt.

"I thought maybe we could just stay put for a while, on Elicoor II. Retire from trying to save the universe and every life-bearing planet in it."

The disbelief surfaced then, and he saw it. He smiled slightly. "I know. When I told Cliff, he thought that maybe I hadn't recovered from the fight as well as he thought. But it's true. I won't stand by and let bad things happen in front of me, but not every problem is for me to solve. Or you. The last thing I want to do is drag you into another mess."

"I didn't lose two years of my life," Sophia said.

"It's a good thing you didn't, because if our positions had been reversed I'd be crazy by the time you woke up. You seem – really good." His green eyes took her in, studying her as if she was a complex equation or an intricate painting.

"Fayt," she said then, making him start. "Let's go to Elicoor II. Let's retire."

He laughed. "Let me call Cliff."

She stopped him before he left the room, and grabbed the front of his shirt. She pulled him down and herself up, and somewhere in the middle their mouths met for the first time in much too long. Warm, sweet – she didn't think kissing her childhood crush would ever stop giving her butterflies. She looked forward to a lifetime of kisses, and peace, and beautiful blue-haired children.

Finally they separated, and Fayt smiled. "Oh, by the way – we can help Cliff now and then, right? If he calls and needs us?"

Sophia looked up, amazed. "Are you serious?"

The smile widened. "Just kidding. I'll call him now."

She watched him walk to the other room, wondering. Kidding for now, maybe – but she knew he'd want to go haring off saving the universe before too long. This time, though, she trusted he would keep himself safe. Maybe she wouldn't find peace, exactly, with Fayt – but contentment. Contentment would do just fine. And an adventure now and then wouldn't hurt.

THE END


End file.
